Category: Animal Rights/Liberation

Latest Action Update

Climbing, blocking, stinking, sabbing earth defenders rock!
Roll on down to the EF! Summer Gathering in mid-August.

Paint-throwing, blockading, rioting, boarding up offices and gathering hundreds of thousands together – all ways to try and defeat the Nuclear Behemoth.

Climbing, blocking, stinking, sabbing earth defenders rock!
Roll on down to the EF! Summer Gathering in mid-August.

Paint-throwing, blockading, rioting, boarding up offices and gathering hundreds of thousands together – all ways to try and defeat the Nuclear Behemoth.

Blockading coal in Bangladesh, copper mining in Peru, Italian ecotage against incineration, Greek firebombs opposing landfill, pro-rickshaw car-smashing in India, actions and camping to protect the Tasmanian forests, and anti-mining trashing of many things in Indonesia…just a taste from around the world of how people campaign to stop the destruction of the earth and it’s inhabitants.

More news from the front lines: travellers digging in, mobile phone mast torching, a first time hunt sabber’s diary, the latest from the GM ‘anti-lobby’, and tracking new developments – UK fracking, FFS!

Plus with the latest advice from AUntie Miffy, contacts and dates to get you in the mood for Captain Swing, download, distribute, subscribe and get out there, and stuck in.

earthfirst.org.uk/efau
[- to subscribe & get the EF!AU as soon as it’s produced, rather than when we put it up here!]

Call out for workshops for EF! Summer Gathering 2011

This year’s Earth First Summer Gathering takes place in East Anglia this year, starting on the 10th of August and running for five days. With six workshops tents we have space for over 100 discussions, presentations and workshops. The spaces are filling up fast, but there is still time to book a spot.

This year’s Earth First Summer Gathering takes place in East Anglia this year, starting on the 10th of August and running for five days. With six workshops tents we have space for over 100 discussions, presentations and workshops. The spaces are filling up fast, but there is still time to book a spot. So if you’ve got an idea you wish to highlight, whether it’s related to ecological defence or social resistance here is your chance. The gathering is attended by hundreds of individuals interested and participating in struggles around the UK and Europe.

To get in touch just email efsummergathering2011announce@riseup.net with a blurb of for you workshop or discussion and we’ll do our best to fit you in.

For monthly email updates for the gathering subscribe to efsummergathering@lists.riseup.net

Tension mounts as Brazilian Indians retake land

27 May 2011
A community of Guarani Indians in Brazil has retaken part of its ancestral land in an act of desperation, having lived by the side of a highway for a year and a half.

The Guarani marched back to their land last week, unwilling further to endure the appalling living conditions they have been subject to on the roadside.

27 May 2011
A community of Guarani Indians in Brazil has retaken part of its ancestral land in an act of desperation, having lived by the side of a highway for a year and a half.

The Guarani marched back to their land last week, unwilling further to endure the appalling living conditions they have been subject to on the roadside.

The Indians of Laranjeira Nanderu community had their lands stolen from them in the 1960s, to make way for cattle ranches. They returned to their land in 2008, but were evicted again in September 2009 – soon after, their village was brutally attacked and burned down.

Since then, the Guarani have been living under tarpaulin sheeting, with little access to clean water, food, or medical care, and subject to intense heat and flooding, by the side of a highway. Large trucks and cars thundered past day and night, and one Guarani was run over and killed.

Faride, spokesman of the community, told Survival researchers before the reoccupation, ‘Laranjeira Nanderu was my father’s land, my grandfather’s land, my great grandfather’s land… We need to go back there so we can work and live in peace… that is our dream.’

Watch a film clip of Faride talking about his community’s land – http://assets.survivalinternational.org/flash/syndicated-player.swf’ width=’480′ height=’270′ allowFullScreen=’true’ wmode=’opaque’ bgcolor=’111111′ allowScriptAccess=’always’ flashvars=’config=http://assets-production.survivalinternational.org/films/412/config.xml’ />“>
Some Guarani leaders who have led their communities’ reoccupations of their land, such as the internationally-renowned Marcos Veron, have been assassinated.

The community is now urging the government officially to protect their land so they are not evicted again.

The Guarani have a deep spiritual connection to their land, upon which they rely for their mental and physical well-being.

Following the loss of almost all their land to ranches and soya and sugarcane plantations, thousands of Guarani are living in overcrowded reserves, and some are camped by the side of highways.

Survival’s Director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘It is no surprise that having been forced to endure such precarious conditions for so long, the Guarani have taken matters into their own hands and returned home. This should surely act as a wake-up call for the authorities to protect the land and remove the lurking threat of another eviction. That is the least the Guarani deserve’.
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Download Survival’s report on the situation of the Guarani, sent to the United Nations last year. ( in English and Portuguese pdf, 2.4 MB).

Bath Bomb #33 Out Now!

THE BATH BOMB

@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #33
free/donation
September 2010

“More rusty barbed wire than cutting edge”

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The First Cut Is The Deepest

Whilst we’ve never claimed to be the cutting edge of journalism, the Bath Bomb has become privy to a series of unpleasant plans from councils in the southwest:

THE BATH BOMB

@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #33
free/donation
September 2010

“More rusty barbed wire than cutting edge”

*

The First Cut Is The Deepest

Whilst we’ve never claimed to be the cutting edge of journalism, the Bath Bomb has become privy to a series of unpleasant plans from councils in the southwest:

Somerset’s most dedicated N.H.S. professionals are being “strong-armed and railroaded” into defecting from the Primary Care Trust to join social enterprise ventures, without the chance of a proper consultation. But at a meeting filled with angry health visitors, school nurses, local hospital and other workers in Bridgwater on Wednesday 1st September, they voted “No!” to privatisation. Their campaign is now seeking public support for the P.C.T. meeting at Wynford House, Lufton Way, in Yeovil on Wednesday 15th September from 10am, where the decision is expected to be made.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling has started a crusade to force the 260 young Incapacity Benefit claimants in B.&N.E.S. (and a further 530 in Wiltshire) into work – regardless of whether they’re fit to or not. There are already wider moves to slash the Welfare Bill, and expand the controversial Work Capability Assessment health test, but Grayling somehow seeks to frame this witch-hunt as a form of philanthropy: “Thousands of young people with their lives ahead of them just parked on sickness benefits with no way out.” A big man with a big heart.

Three out of seven youth key workers in the Bath area are to be cut, alongside their youth centres. Youth workers who have been colleagues for years are now being turned against each other, anxiously competing to not put a foot wrong and lose their jobs, or be ‘matrix’ed. Whether crime rates will go up as deprived kids are alienated even further, is hard to say.

Waste management services in the village of Old Welton are to be cut and shipped out to Bath. As they share the Transfer Station site with other public services, there is expected to be a knock-on ‘tipping point’ effect where more services are sent off to the big city, eventually draining the area of a large portion of its employment, and its economy.

Meanwhile G.M.B. union workers in Bristol are being illegally threatened with disciplinary action for sharing news of intended cuts with their unions.

But people aren’t just gonna sit and take it: a noisy 40-strong demo outside Bristol City Council took place on Tuesday 7th September, with many a union banner and speaker. Saturday the 4th saw the Bath Stop The War Coalition find unanimous consensus from the 90 balloted on their regular vigil, who would rather cut Trident than services. On Wednesday 22nd September, from 7.30pm, a ‘Fight the Cuts’ public meeting will take place, downstairs at Friends Meeting House on York Street. Though speakers will be present from the traditional unions – such as the N.U.T., G.M.B., Unison, U.C.U. and Bath Trades Council – we need a wider public participation from other affected people, so we can sort this crap out! You owe it to yourself to come along!

Who knows? Perhaps we might take a livre out of France’s book, where 2.5 million took to the streets on Tuesday the 7th, against Sarkozy’s austerity plans. No to Job Cuts! No to Pension Cuts! No to Service Cuts! Cut Tax Evasion! Cut I.D. Cards! Cut Trident! Cut the Pay Gap! Cut a Tory! Vive La Strike!

http://bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/260-25s-sickness-benefit-B-NES/article-2602689-detail/article.html
http://bristol.indymedia.org.uk/article/693333

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Tory Scum, Out Of Brum!

ACTION STATIONS! ACTION STATIONS! EVERYONE TO THE STREETS! Sunday 3rd October will be our first chance to show our anger at the Con-Dem cuts. As the Tories kick off their party conference in Birmingham, they will be met by thousands of angry protesters from the diverse sections of society that are being forced to bear the brunt of the cuts onslaught. The message will be clear: this crisis was caused by the rich, and we refuse to pay for it with job losses, pay reductions, service cuts and hiked V.A.T., while the toffs at the top continue to line their pockets. Plans for the protest are shaping up nicely, with many unions, community groups and others gearing up to make some noise. Those angry pranksters over at Class War have booked themselves a team at the Tory Party pub quiz, and are calling for as much help (with the questions of course!) as possible. There is also a ‘direct action’ bloc shaping up, which promises to disrupt proceedings nicely. So, whether you want to peacefully protest, or have something a bit more lively in mind, there will be something for you on the day. This will be the start of a massive campaign against the cuts and there will even be transport running to the demo from Bath – leaving at 9am from Laura Place fountain (though details may change), tickets are £10 waged or £5 unwaged, and to get yours, e-mail either bathagainstcuts[at]yahoo.co.uk or tel 07908 355456.

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Get Shorty

Kilter, Bath’s unique outdoor theatre company, plants the seeds of change with their playful, engaging ‘Roots Replanted’ show, investigating food-security in the fast approaching post-oil world. Elope to the Hampton Row Allotments from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th of this month, down the bean-rows, for an intimate tale of love and vegetables. Times are 6.30pm Thursday to Saturday, and additional showings at 2.30pm on Saturday and Sunday. Or catch them later at Peasedown St John Community Farm or Bloomfield Allotments at Bear Flat. Bookings can be made by ringing 01225 386777.

On invitation from Frome Friends of Palestine, “Israel’s bravest, most principled” historian Ilan Pappe will be speaking at the Masonic Hall on North Parade on Friday 17th September at 8pm. His talk will examine the ongoing history of Zionism, from its roots in the racist soils of the nineteenth century to the situation today. His book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, effectively cost him his job at the University of Haifa four years ago. Admission is £5.

B.&N.E.S. Council seem to finally be doing something right, as, from 4th October, weekly collections of food waste will reach 72,000 households, converting the £48+ per tonne taxpayer burden to agricultural compost in Gloucestershire. With any luck, the £400,000 implementation cost will come straight from John Everitt’s pocket? And maybe sorting out a portion of the annual 20 million tonnes of supermarket and industry U.K. waste will be next, right?

A gang of racists attacked the Indian Curry Nights restaurant in Augusta Place, off Upper Bristol Road, on Tuesday 24th August. Two waiters were minorly hurt, and a window was targeted by thrown rocks. Considering attacks on takeaways and mosques in the city over the last couple of years, perhaps it’s way past time that local anti-fascists stepped it up?

Police Sergeant Mark Andrews showed his true colours back in July ’08, when he smashed 59-year-old Pamela Somerville’s face against the cell floor at Colerne copshop. Recently sent down this week for six months for Actual Bodily Harm, for once a copper has paid a price for his actions. But can we all rest easy now that the friendly bobbies have cleaned themselves up once more? Or are cases like Andrews and (Ian Tomlinson’s killer) Simon Harwood perhaps not just a couple of bad eggs, but instead symptomatic of a wider institutional violence, and near-complete freedom from consequence, infecting the whole of the force?

Radical campaigning groups such as Bristol Rising Tide have called for an international day of action against the coal industry on Tuesday 12th October; more details to follow

http://www.kiltertheatre.org
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5245/is_7840_231/ai_n29412429/
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Council-gears-food-waste-scheme/article-2604136-detail/article.html
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Police-appeal-waiters-attacked-Bath-park/article-2603995-detail/article.html
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Police-officer-faces-sack-cell-brutality-woman-59/article-2607007-detail/article.html

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GOT A STORY? WANT TO RECEIVE THE BATH BOMB BY EMAIL? HOPING TO SUE? Contact us by e-mailing 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

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Fash In The Pan

The August bank holiday weekend was due to be a big day for the British far-right, with two high-profile demos designed to put racist thuggery firmly back on the map; but unfortunately for them, it wasn’t to be.

The weekend started off with media revelations that, far from being a growing dynamic party, as fuhrer Griffin would have us believe, the fascist B.N.P. is in fact falling apart. On the verge of bankruptcy due to financial mismanagement, lack of support and a costly lawsuit (filed by Unilever when Griffin used the Marmite logo in a party broadcast), the rats are well and truly fleeing the ship. First to go was Richard Barnbrook, amateur gay porn director and the B.N.P.’s sole member on the Greater London Assembly, who quit after calling for a “full internal investigation” into corruption in the party. He was followed shortly by Lee Barnes, the party legal officer and ‘unsteady’ Eddy Butler, former National Front full-timer and B.N.P. press officer, both of whom asserted that Griffin was exercising a dictatorial stranglehold over the party. Just to prove them wrong, Griffin expelled a further 30 high-ranking party members for challenging his ability to lead the party. So, with the B.N.P. sliding off the scene, the stage was set for the thick-as-shit boot boys of the English Defence League to take the far-right limelight.

They intended to do this with a mass march through Bradford on Saturday 28th, in the hope of igniting further Asian riots to justify their anti-immigrant agenda. Determined to cause a ruckus, the E.D.L. banned women from the demo, predicted a turnout of 5,000, and dubbed the demo “the big one”. In the event, the ‘Battle of Little Big One’ was a disappointing washout, with only 700 fascists being dwarfed by several thousands of community and anti-fascist activists, who told the E.D.L. in no uncertain terms that they would not be goaded into full-scale rioting. However, that didn’t stop a few naughty lads and ladies smashing up the E.D.L. coaches as they fled the scene. The high point of the day came when a sympathetic copper forced a lone E.D.L. skinhead into a crowd of locals, despite his tearful protestations. Apparently no-one saw exactly what happened, but an ambulance was observed speeding away from the scene shortly afterwards!

So, on to bank holiday Monday, and sunny Brighton, where fringe fascist group the ‘English National Alliance’ had called a ‘March for England’ (their stated targets were muslims, immigrants, students and pacifists – nice!). They predicted a turnout of over 300 patriotic warriors, which turned out on the day to be around 50 jug-eared Burberry models screaming racist slogans at anyone unfortunate enough to be in earshot. The turnout then proceeded to get turned over by 300 assembled anti-fascists who disrupted the march continuously until the police called full-time and escorted the fascists home for their own safety!

What was billed as being a weekend that would put racist politics back on the map, ended in two woefully under-attended demos, vastly larger anti-fascist counter-events, unanimous rejection of the fascists by local communities and the virtual disintegration of the far-right’s brightest star, the B.N.P. It may be too early to cheer, as a dying beast still has fangs, but the news is encouraging and suggests that a few hard shoves could boot these groups to where they belong – the dustbin of history.

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

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UPCOMING EVENTS

 

drawing classes: ‘Remembering the Present’, Mondays & Tuesdays, Stokes Croft Museum, 81-83 Stokes Croft, Bristol, http://www.stokescroftmuseum.info

 

London Road Food Co-op, Wednesdays, 4-7pm, Riverside Community Centre, London Road, http://www.londonroadfoodcoop.blogspot.com

 

exhibition: ‘Remembering the Present’, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays, 11am-3pm, Stokes Croft Museum, 81-83 Stokes Croft, Bristol, http://www.stokescroftmuseum.info

 

Bathampton Community Growers workday, Thursdays, 10am-dusk, Mill Lane, Bathampton, e-mail thelostplot[at]googlemail.com/ tel Chris 07792 444628

 

Bathampton Community Supported Agriculture project: fruit picking, Thursdays and Sundays, http://www.transitionbath.org/bathampton-csa-news

 

Bath Stop The War Coalition vigil, Saturdays, 11.30am-12.30, Bath Abbey Courtyard

 

Bradford-On-Avon peace vigil, Saturdays, 11.30am-12.30, by the peace statue opposite Westbury Gardens by the Town Bridge, Bradford-On-Avon

 

exhibition: ‘Remembering the Present’, Saturdays, 12-4pm, Stokes Croft Museum, 81-83 Stokes Croft, Bristol, http://www.stokescroftmuseum.info

 

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

 

one year part-time ‘Practical Sustainability’ course, starts September 2010, Bristol; exploring permaculture design, organic horticulture, woodland management, green building, ecological interactions, energy, group dynamics, re-localisation, creating change, community engagement and more; http://www.shiftbristol.org.uk

 

Kilter theatre: ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Friday 10th September, Hampton Row Allotments, Bathwick, 6.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

 

‘Bristol Green Doors’: 52 people will open their homes showcasing energy waste reduction, Saturday 11th to Sunday 12th September, http://www.bristolgreendoors.org

 

Bristol Anarchist Bookfair, Saturday 11th September, 10.30-6pm, Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol; e-mail bristolanarchistbookfair[at]riseup.net; http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org

 

Stop Hinkley ‘C’ talks and workshops, Saturday 11th, 11-5pm, Trinity Hall, St Saviours Avenue, Bridgwater, http://www.stophinkley.org

 

Kilter theatre: ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Saturday 11th September, Hampton Row Allotments, Bathwick, 2.30pm & 6.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

 

Stop Hinkley ‘C’ protest/guided tour, Sunday 12th September, 12 midday, Hinkley Point power station, near Bridgwater, http://www.stophinkley.org

 

‘The Atmosphere Of Heaven’:  history walk, Sunday 12th September, 12 midday, walk begins 3 Rodney Place, off Cliftin Down Road, Bristol, http://www.brh.org.uk/misc/gas.html

 

Kilter theatre: ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Sunday 12th September, Hampton Row Allotments, Bathwick, 2.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

 

film: ‘Grass’, Sunday 12th September, 7.30pm, Pierian Centre, 27 Portland Square, St Pauls, Bristol, £5 entry, http://www.pieriancentre.com

 

Bath Animal Action meeting, Monday 13th September, 8-9pm, The Bell, Walcot Street, e-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk; http://www.bathanimalaction.blogspot.com

 

Kilter theatre: ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Thursday 16th to Friday 17th September, Peasedown St John Community Farm, Dunkerton Hill, BA2 8PJ, 6.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

 

Taunton Womens Refuge punk benefit gig, Thursday 16th September, 7pm, Roadhouse, taunton, free entry, feat. Rat Attack, As We Sink!, Fights & Fires, Subgenerates & Bats About Bats; http://www.tauntonwomensrefuge.org.uk

 

‘Wild Food in Autumn’ walk & foraging course, Friday 17th to Sunday 19th September, Monkton Wyld Court, near Charmouth, Bridport, Dorset, £215 residential/£145 non-residential, http://www.monktonwyldcourt.co.uk/

 

Kilter theatre: ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Saturday 18th September, Peasedown St John Community Farm, Dunkerton Hill, BA2 8PJ, 2.30pm & 6.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

 

Bristol Free Vegan Food Fair benefit gig, Saturday 18th September, 7.30pm, the Black Swan pub, 438 Stapleton Road, Bristol, feat Daddy Long Bones, Budd, Molly Samson, Ren, D.J. Dub Simian & The Long Dead Beat, £3/£4 entry

 

Regional South West Animal Rights Coalition meeting, Sunday 19th September, 12-5pm, Kebele Community Co-op, 14 Robertson Road, Easton, Bristol, e-mail regionalarc[at]googlemail.com

 

Kilter theatre: ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Sunday 19th September, Peasedown St John Community Farm, Dunkerton Hill, BA2 8PJ, 2.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

 

Seed Saving workshop, Sunday 19th September, 2.30-5pm, put on by Bath Organic Group, places are limited, tel 01225 319117, £2.50 entry

 

‘The Global Circle of Peace’: multimedia work of art to celebrate U.N. World Peace Day, Tuesday 21st September, 6.30-8.00pm, Kingston Parade Gardens, http://www.theglobalcircleofpeace.com

 

two-day workshop: ‘Holding the Vision’, Wednesday 22nd to Thursday 23rd September, 10-4.30pm, Bristol, £45-75 entry, with Starhawk; e-mail shiftbristol[at]yahoo.co.uk; http://www.starhawk.org

 

Kilter theatre: ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Thursday 23rd to Friday 24th September, Bloomfield Allotments, Bear Flat, 6.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

 

‘An Old Home Fit for the Future’: visit to victorian eco-efficient house, Friday 24th September, 3-7pm, 16 Pulteney Gardens, Widcombe, Bath, BA2 4HG,  http://www.transitionbath.org/old-home-fit-for-the-future

 

Critical Mass Bike Ride, Saturday 25th September, meet 1pm, Kingsmead Square, http://www.bathcyclingcampaign.org.uk

 

‘An Old Home Fit for the Future’: visit to victorian eco-efficient house, Friday 25th to Sunday 26th September, 11-6pm, 16 Pulteney Gardens, Widcombe, Bath, BA2 4HG,  http://www.transitionbath.org/old-home-fit-for-the-future

 

Kilter theatre: ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Saturday 25th September, Bloomfield Allotments, Bear Flat, 2.30pm & 6.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

 

Bath Animal Action info stall, Sunday 26th September, 2-4pm, Stall Street, e-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk; http:///www.bathanimalaction.blogsppot.com

 

Kilter theatre: ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Sunday 26th September, Bloomfield Allotments, Bear Flat, 2.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

 

Transition Bath Social, Monday 27th September, 7.15pm, the Love Lounge/ back room of the Bell, Walcot Street; bring food to share; http://www.transitionbath.org

 

Bath Cycling Campaign meeting, Monday 27th September, 7.30pm, the Rising Sun, Grove Street, http://www.bathcyclingcampaign.org.uk

 

Bath Hunt Saboteurs meeting, Monday 27th September, 8-9pm, The Bell, tel Justin 07854 062336

 

Bath Socialist Forum meeting, Monday 27th September, 8pm, upstairs St James Wine Vaults, presented by Ken Loach

 

speakers & discussion: ‘Climate Justice: Think Global, Act Local’, Tuesday 28th September, 7-9pm, Unitarian Meeting House, Brunswick Square, Bristol; F.F.I. e-mail Katharine[at]wdm.org.uk / tel Katharine 020 7820 4900; http://groups.wdm.org.uk/bristol

 

No Borders Camp Belgium, Wednesday 29th September to Sunday 3rd October, Brussels, http://www.noborderbxl.eu.org/?lang=en

 

‘Low Carbon Bath Consultation’: Thursday 30th September, 6.30-8.30pm, Building of Bath Collection, The Countess of Huntington’s Chapel, The Vineyards, Paragon, Bath, for a booking, e-mail gkillick[at]bptrust.org.uk, or ring 01225 338727

 

National March for Farmed Animals, Saturday 2nd October, 12pm start, Cavendish Square, London

 

anti-Tory demonstration, Sunday 3rd October,  Tory Party Conference, Birmingham more details tbc

 

Bath Activist Network meeting, Thursday 7th October, 7.30-9pm, downstairs at the Hobgoblin, St James Parade, http://ww.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com

 

Legal fees benefit punk gig: ‘SUBVERT 2010 – A Festival Of Resistance’, Friday 8th to Sunday 10th October, Bristol, feat Hellkrusher, Ruidosa Immunidicia, War All The Time, Ignosy, The Wankys, The Extinguishers & Bulletridden, as well as vegan cafés/ stalls/ films/ workshops & picnic; more details tbc

 

Bath Green Drinks, Wednesday 13th October, 8pm, the Rising Sun, Grove Street

 

Regional day of action against the cuts, Saturday 23rd October

 

London Anarchist Bookfair, Saturday 23rd October, 10am-7pm, Queen Mary’s, University of London, Mile End Road, London, http://www.anarchistbookfair.org.uk

 

Bristol Free Vegan Food Fair, Saturday 30th October, 12-5pm, Broadmead Baptist Church, Union Street, Bristol, BS1 3HY, http://www.bristolanimalrights.org.uk/veganfoodfair

 

Coalition of the Resistance Conference, Saturday 27th November, London, more details tbc

 

Camp for Climate Action Australia, Wednesday 1st to Sunday 5th December, Bayswater Power Station, http://www.climatecamp.org.au

 

Climate Camp Aotearoa, Thursday 16th to Tuesday 21st December,  Wellington New Zealand, http://www.climatecamp.org.nz/node/51

 

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‘Fatcat Bosses Get The Cream’ Shocker!

Insult has been added to injury once again, as a G.M.B. union survey scrutinised 151 council and metropolitan accounts and discovered how 129 chief execs are paid more than £150,000 a year. It went on to note how two earned more than £300,000, and 76 earned between £200,000 and £300,000. In the southwest, B.&N.E.S. Council head honcho John Everitt netted a comfy £211,859 this year, including pension contributions and expenses; though his rivals at Cornwall County and Bristol City did better. Life’s hard, eh?

And this is at a time when councils claim to be hard up, slashing jobs, services, and handing out pay freezes like they were sweets to kids. Standing there shivering in the playground, in their plastic mac. Local government minister Bob Neill makes an interesting point: “We need to stamp out a culture of duplication, which is why, in many cases, councils should be looking towards sharing chief executives.” But actually stamping on the guy seems a bit harsh; instead of cutting the 300 out of 7,000 council jobs, surely it would make more sense to cut just one… After all, the dole queue is nice this time of year, John.

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Grub Street Meeja

Pity the shit-upon people of Bath, whose local lose-papers, the Bath Comic and the Western Daily Piss, are two of the apologies for journalism in the city.

Time was when the Comic would give regular and generous coverage to anti-war, anti-council and anti-developer stunts, but since the latest editor took over, it looks as if anything likely to rock the boat gets packed off on an extended Holliday. The big trouble with the Comic is that it has its head well and truly up the rectums of corporate crooks and shysters like B.&N.E.S., Bath Rugby, FirstBus, Crest Nicholson (Western Riverside), Morley Fund Management (Southgate), and others. Proof that the Comic had abandoned any pretence of serious news reporting and had achieved full Beano status, came with its hilarious but readership-insulting ‘Attack of the giant seagulls’ front-page last month.

The Piss, part of the same barrel-scraping Northcliffe outfit should, after the appointment of ITS latest, yes-man editor, be renamed the Western Military Gazette or Western Daily War, as all this current bunch of r-slickers do is pump out the same tired Cameron-loving warmongering propaganda drivel as their stablemate the Daily Fail.

All the Comic and Piss are good for is wiping your arse on; the only fault there is that the print comes off on your bum.

The glossies are no better. Bath Life, a criminal waste of newsprint, is stuffed full of estate agent waffle and other advertising, and page after page of ‘Invitation Only’ bashes featuring dozens of Bath Z-z-z listers grinning gormlessly for the cameras in a pretentious parody of Country Life’s society columns. Publishers guilty of this rubbish are Media Clash, the same bunch of brown-nosers who churn out the council’s spin-rag ‘Connect’. Someone should tell them that connecting is not enough; they should try switching on as well.

As for what little of interest the freebies Bath Magazine and Folio contain, you’d be better off buying Venue, which does arts and alternative far better. It is published by the Piss/Comic group, but, hey, nobody’s perfect!

*

If I Had A Hammer…

Following the successful acquittal of the nine ‘Decommissioner’ activists who smashed up Brighton-based bomb factory E.D.O./I.T.T. (see B.B. #31), the Smash E.D.O. campaign is calling for one last shove to close the factory all together. For six years, the company, which supplies bomb components to Israel, Afghanistan, the U.S.A. and anyone else who has enough cash, has been under relentless assault from activists, who have blockaded, protested, smashed and exposed the company’s dodgy dealings time and time again. The demo has been called for Wednesday 13th October, and promises to be a little on the tasty side, and as the name ‘I.T.T.’s Hammertime’ suggests, people may have more than waving placards in mind! People have been requested to get down and stay at the convergence space from the night before, but also to help flier for the event in their home towns beforehand. For more information on the campaign, check out http://www.smashedo.org.uk, or drop them an e-mail at smashedo[at]riseup.net.

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Cruelty-Free: You Can’t Say Fayrer Than That

The second annual Bath Vegan Fayre 2010 filled a hole on Saturday 4th September, with over 150 passing through the doors. Held at Manvers Street Baptist Church in the centre, free of entry fee and cruelty, the event lasted from 12 til 4pm. Otherwise, the day stuck to much the same recipe as the previous year: with a tantalizing spread of steaming soups, nibbles, cakes, sweets and savouries – some nut-free, some wheat-free, all meat and dairy-free – filling the bowls and bellies of queues of hungry fayre-goers. The tea and fruit juices flowed like never before, whilst the tables were filled with relaxed conversation and ingested education. As well as the over-burdened info tables (with everything from nutrition, environmental ethics, recipes, animal rights, medical science and updates for campaigns against Noah’s Ark Zoo, hunts, foie gras outlets and animal labs), free samples table, reading corner and children’s area, there was also a prize raffle. Punters included the usual suspects of dreadied and alternative veggie types on the make for free pickings, for starters, but also a healthy flow of the uninitiated from the street.

By the end of the day, many a happy scavenger got their just desserts, and were heard uttering the immortal words: “I had no idea vegan food could taste this good!” Hey, even veggies need more than a diet of indescribable slop every now and again. Next up is the Bristol Free Vegan Fair at Broadmead Baptist Church on Saturday 30th October, from 12 til 5pm, and their benefit gig at the Black Swan on Stapleton Road, on the 18th of this month.

http://bathanimalaction.blogspot.com/p/today-uk-is-home-to-around-300000.html
http://www.vegansociety.com/home.php
http://www.bristolanimalrights.org.uk/

*

Cycle-logy 101

Pedalphile activists group Bicycology will be cranking things up a gear in Bristol next weekend, with a trio of car-free fun days for all the family. On Saturday 18th September, they’ll be ‘Doing it without a car’ at Mina Park in St Werburgh’s; go sample their collection of bike accessories, book your ride in with the women bike mechanics for free advice and safety checks, or get down to some D.I.Y. creative sessions – turn tyres into bike belts, bike chains into bracelets or cobble yourself together a last minute carnie costume. All this just in time for the next day’s ‘Bristol Bike Carnival’ – starting in the city centre at 12 midday, expect dayglo, dinosaur skeleton puppets and two-wheeled gonzo weirdness. Then, after a day’s rest, Tuesday will be ‘Food is our Fuel – Cycle for your Supper!’ An exploration of modern agriculture, its problems and its solutions, this three-hour long gentle cycle starts at 6pm outside Tesco Metro in Broadmead, and heads out of the city for blackberry and wild food picking – hot food and drinks will be provided on donation. Bring your bike, lights, rucksack or pannier, and accompanied children.

And in related Bath news, a bike refurbishment/homelessness fund-raising project has recently re-opened, called ‘ReCYCLEd’, at 35 Corn Street. E-mail bikes[at]julianhouse.org.uk, for details.

*

Toys Tory

While the resistance against the Con-Dem cuts is shaping up nicely, the same cannot be said for the cut-crazy coalition who have been hit in recent weeks by a string of embarrassing fallings-out. Tories attacking Tories, Tories attacking Lib-Dems and Lib-Dems attacking both each other and the Tories (although we don’t think anyone has noticed or cared). The first of the cracks began to show when odious Osborne informed the press that nuke programme Trident would have to be funded by the defence budget, rather than the traditional funders, the Treasury. It turns out Osborne had let every one know his plans – except the Minister for Defence, Liam Fox. This news came to the delight of T.V. journalists as Fox branded the proposition “ridiculous”, asserting that after a 20% budget cut, there was no way the M.o.D. could pay for Trident. Osborne shot him down on live T.V. as a little bickering match erupted before the very eyes of borderline orgasmic telly journos. The spat has yet to be resolved.

This was quickly followed by bout #2, featuring Higher Education Minister David Willetts in the blue corner vs. Devey boy himself in the, ummmm, other blue corner. This time the argument was over milk. Now, some of you may remember that one of Thatcher’s less popular decisions was the removal of free milk from schools; so what has Willetts done? In the image of the Tory Godmother, Willetts proudly told the assembled press pack that under-fives no longer deserved their free milk, and that it was to be cut. After a rapid apology at the foot of this Thatcher shrine, Cameron popped his head out of the door of Downing Street to contradict his education minister, prompting opposition M.P.s to notice that “This is a coalition in chaos, making policy on the hoof. The Government doesn’t seem to have a clue.” As if Cameron didn’t have enough trouble keeping his own house in order, the Lib-Dems have also started having a pop, with many Lib-Dem M.P.s (in fact almost all of them that don’t have a cabinet seat) promising a rebellion over Con-Dem V.A.T. increase plans, with prominent Lib-Demmers such as Charles ‘5 years on the wagon’ Kennedy and Simon Hughes publicly criticising Con-Dem policy. To add another dollop of the stinky stuff on the smouldering feck pile that is the coalition, Clegg has crawled out of David’s cosy orifice to take the reigns while the Camerons sun themselves. Like a naughty schoolboy, Clegg took the opportunity to contradict key Con-Dem policies relating to immigration, Trident and housing benefits, something that he has been warned about in the past. Looks like some young upstart will be getting an Eton-style botty-thrashing when daddy Cameron rolls back into town!

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The Filth And The Furry

As mentioned back in B.B. #30, the U.K. Government has performed a spectacular U-turn on its policy regarding bovine tuberculosis, and has chosen to go ahead with a nation-wide badger cull. Last week, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman approved the cull for T.B. hotspots, handing the license to kill over to individual farmers’ discretions.  These wannabe 007’s of the National Farmers Union lobby will need to prove that a cull is necessary before being allowed to kill and/or vaccinate (shoot and gas first, a spoonful of medicine later?) anything black and white in a 50 square mile zone; what sort of proof required is yet to be disclosed, but a sham of a public consultation is expected later this month. At least this might stop farmers from rolling gunned down badgers onto highways in the middle of the night, as imitation roadkill.

The Welsh Assembly were pushed into a U-turn of their own, of sorts, back in July, when the Badger Trust and other animal ‘welfare’ activists won their legal challenge on a technicality, pushing kill-crazy plans back for months. These pro-culling decisions fly in the face of the ten-year Independent Scientific Study Group on Cattle T.B., who concluded in 2007 that culling couldn’t meaningfully control the disease, and that carrier badgers would disperse the disease over a wider area. This position has been loosely corroborated by Imperial College London and the Zoological Society of London. But screw all that, the Con-Dems say – let’s shoot us some varmints! Yeehaw! In a “carefully managed” and “scientifically-led” manner, of course.

As ever, animal rightsies are much-needed to save our furry friends – check out http://www.badger-killers.co.uk, or contact bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk for ideas.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7982848/Farmers-to-be-handed-powe
rs-to-cull-badgers.html
http://www.bathanimalaction.blogspot.com

*

First Class News!

In a heartening bit of news just in, a public survey has found that seven out of every eight people oppose the privatisation of the postal service (one of the Tories’ key policies) and would prefer it to be kept public. Billy Hayes, head of the posties’ union said “This poll reaffirms what we already knew – the British public do not want their postal services sold off. The union and the company have worked hard to agree a fully funded modernisation plan and that work needs support from the Government.” However, the will of the public contradicts Tory plans to put a bill before Parliament demanding the privatisation of the service. Will this be another case of the Tories ignoring the opinions of the average person and trying to plough ahead with their agenda of cuts and privatization? We suspect so, so if you like your postal service public, lets get ready to fight for it!

*

And now, to the disclaimer: as anyone is free to contribute, the opinions expressed in each article are not necessarily reflective of all contributors. 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 necessarily reflect the opinions of any other contributor.

Tens of thousands of mink released in Greece

“26.08.2010 – Heliodendro, Kastoria (Greece)
One of the biggest greek mink farms has been hit in our first night of action. All the cages imprisoning animals in 37 sheds of the farm were opened and machinery sabotaged.

“26.08.2010 – Heliodendro, Kastoria (Greece)
One of the biggest greek mink farms has been hit in our first night of action. All the cages imprisoning animals in 37 sheds of the farm were opened and machinery sabotaged.

To let the animals out part of the fence was cut and both gates opened smashing the locks (using the farmer’s tools). Two hours and half of work and we could run away along with thousands of minks (according to media 50.000 were released).

27.08.2010 – Kaloneri, Siatista (Greece)
Another mink farm was our target for a second night of action, this time near the town of Kaloneri, on a road where 10 farms can be easily seen. 8 sheds full of animals had their cages opened in just ten minutes. Before leaving we opened a gate to let the animals run towards freedom (according to media 2.000 were released).

In both cases we had checked carefully the farms to know how to organize a faster and more secure action.
With these actions we decided to hit the fur industry and especially the disgusting ‘fur towns’ of Siatista and Kastoria, plagued with hundreds of fur stores. Liberating animals from cages is a way to put our ideas into practice. We oppose the oppression, exploitation and imprisonment that this civilization has created for any living being, regardless of species, race, gender or sexual preferences.

In these desperate days we still strive for freedom. Eat vegan on the barricades!

A.L.F.”

Greek media has reported that as many as 50,000 mink were released from cages. In an article in the Makedonia newspaper, the president of a Greek fur breeders association said that it was a “black day” for the industry. The owner of one of the targeted farms estimated his losses at 1 million Euros and said that his farm had been ruined.

Trashing, dashing, bashing, mashing: the new EF! Action Update

So what have you been up to the last few months? Just hanging around?
Maybe you’ve been part of human wheel-clamping aeroplanes, climbing up scaffolding tripods inconveniently placed in the road, smashing machines at open-cast mines, playing nuked-dead in the street, kayaking against borehole drill rigs in Ireland, burning mobile phone masts, resisting Tesco, camping against trashing of woodland, with some success at Titnore (& other protest camp updates), or getting in on BP’s act, spilling oil in public places.

Or have you been on holiday, taking part in indigenous blockades against logging, dams and mining, spilunking against high speed trains, slashing tuna cages, blockading Monsanto HQ, trashing GM fields, and more?

So what have you been up to the last few months? Just hanging around?
Maybe you’ve been part of human wheel-clamping aeroplanes, climbing up scaffolding tripods inconveniently placed in the road, smashing machines at open-cast mines, playing nuked-dead in the street, kayaking against borehole drill rigs in Ireland, burning mobile phone masts, resisting Tesco, camping against trashing of woodland, with some success at Titnore (& other protest camp updates), or getting in on BP’s act, spilling oil in public places.

Or have you been on holiday, taking part in indigenous blockades against logging, dams and mining, spilunking against high speed trains, slashing tuna cages, blockading Monsanto HQ, trashing GM fields, and more?

Maybe you’re in need of a break. But if you’re not, and are just champing at the bit, the return of AUntie MIffy’s problem page might help, addressing what to do if there’s no local group near you. There’s an article about the beginnings of EF! in this country, looking forwards to the next 20 years, to help inspire. If you need support to get things going where you live, do get in touch. And if all that’s not enough, here’s a quotation, from Paul Watson, the Sea Shepherd captain:

“Future generations will not have the chance and those that came before us did not have the vision nor the knowledge. It is up to us — you and I.”

Print version
Other issues and extra info

Earth First! Summer Gathering set-up plans announced

We can now announce that set-up will begin from around 2pm on Saturday, 31 July. Marquees, tools and construction materials will be arriving on site from Saturday morning so there will be plenty to do. You will be able to camp on the site from Saturday and there will be skeleton facilities (water, basic kitchen) from that time.

We can now announce that set-up will begin from around 2pm on Saturday, 31 July. Marquees, tools and construction materials will be arriving on site from Saturday morning so there will be plenty to do. You will be able to camp on the site from Saturday and there will be skeleton facilities (water, basic kitchen) from that time.

We also have a mobile number for setup which is 07766 947852. This will be on-site from Saturday lunchtime, and may well get answered in the few days beforehand but please don’t try ringing until then – e-mail will remain the main contact point until nearer the time – summergathering -{at}- earthfirst.org.uk

What we need to know:

*Please can you let us know when you are coming? – this helps us plan foods, facilities and what jobs to do when.

*It is also helpful if you can let us know if you have any particular skills or interests with respect to set-up – we might need drivers, so if you are over 25, hold a clean licence, are confident driving a 3.5 tonne Luton AND can bring along both parts of your driving licence please let us know.

*Similarly if you are arriving in a vehicle and could potentially provide lifts, transport equipment en route or run errands from site once you arrive please let us know. In this case it is very helpful if you are able/willing to supply us with a contact phone number.

How to get there

As you maybe aware that we do not announce the exact site of the gathering until one week before the main event, this means directions will be available on the website http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/ from Wednesday, 27 July. We realise this will be short notice for people arriving on the Saturday, however to make things easier we will e-mail directions to set-up crew on that day (that still 4 days to check a map!).

The nearest train station is Derby if you want to pre-book train tickets, you will also need to take a local bus service from Derby (these are frequent). We are aiming to have a vehicle on site that can assist if people have difficulties between Derby and the site, so hopefully everyone will be able to get there okay.

There may be a very small number of lifts available from the Nottingham area across the weekend of Saturday 31st July/Sunday first of August. There may also be lifts from the Leeds area first thing on 31 July. Let us know if this may be of interest to you.

What to bring

*Everything you need to the gathering, tent sleeping bags etc. and especially a torch

*It may be wise to come a bit more self-sufficient in food and snacks than you would need to for the main gathering – we will have a basic kitchen but Veggies and the tuck shop are not arriving until Wednesday

*If you are able to bring any tools, especially for basic carpentry, these are often useful

Big thanks for offering to help out

Do get in touch if you have any questions

Love & rage

The EF! Gathering crew

Bath Bomb #31 Out Now

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

George’s Marvellous Medicine!

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

George’s Marvellous Medicine!

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

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

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

Enough irony.

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

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

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

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

It’s A SHSEI-ing Shame

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nice Work If You Can Skellett

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

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

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

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

A Class (War) Act!

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

Climate Camp Counters Cymru Coal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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UPCOMING EVENTS

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

Painted Lions As White Elephants

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

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

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

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

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

Smashing News!

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

http://www.smashedo.org.uk

Pre-emptive Incarceration For Bath’s ASBO Bastards

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

There Is Such Thing As A Free Lunch

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

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

Rich Justice

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

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

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

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

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

Steve Irwin Attacked in Libyan Waters

Steve Irwin Rammed by Bluefin Fishery Vessel;
Sea Shepherd Crew Repel Violent Assault by Fishermen;
Libyan Navy in Pursuit of the Steve Irwin

Bluefin tuna nets - Blue Rage campaignCutting tuna netsBluefin tuna swim to freedomSteve Irwin Rammed by Bluefin Fishery Vessel;
Sea Shepherd Crew Repel Violent Assault by Fishermen;
Libyan Navy in Pursuit of the Steve Irwin
Operation Blue Rage: Day Ten of the Mediterranean Patrol

Thursday, June 17th, 2010
Location: Off the Coast of Libya

Report by Captain Paul Watson, Steve Irwin

Sea Shepherd’s helicopter reconnaissance flight this morning found two fishing vessels. One was engaged in transferring bluefin tuna into one of the two nets being towed by the other vessel.

The bluefin fishery vessels were inside waters claimed by Libya and about 42 miles off the coast of North Africa.

At 1300 hours, the Steve Irwin came upon the Italian vessel Cesare Rustico towing two cages; one contained about 800 fish (the other was empty).

The Captain of the Cesare Rustico said when questioned that the tuna were caught on the morning of the 14th by the Libyan vessel Tagreft. When we replied that the number of tuna in the cage exceeded the quota for the Tagreft, the Captain said the cage also included tuna from seven other Libyan seiners. All the catches were caught on the 14th, the last legal day, according to the Captain. The other seven seiners named were the Khandheel 2, Hanibal, Ozul 2, Almadina, Morina, and Khaleej Eltahadi and one other that he had no name for. The problem with this explanation was that we had observed the Khandheel 2 on the 13th and 14th of June, and it was not fishing. In addition, weather conditions for those two days made fishing virtually impossible. The extremely difficult conditions, coupled with the position of the cages only 40 miles off the Libyan coast, when they should have been moving 25 miles a day, suggested to us that the fish were freshly caught within the last three days at the most.

Their statement that all the catches were caught on the 14th sounded much too convenient, so we asked to examine the fish for juveniles. We were refused. I then put the bow of the Steve Irwin onto the cage so we could look into the cage from the bow to examine it further.

Suddenly, the Maltese vessel Rosaria Tuna rammed the Steve Irwin on the aft port side and slid alongside the port rail, as a fisherman tried to violently gaff Sea Shepherd crewmembers with a long, sharp-hooked pole.

The Steve Irwin crew retaliated with 8 liters of rotten butter forcing the fishing vessel to retreat and to stand off.

At 1530 hours, the two fishing vessels circled their cages defensively and the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin stood off to notify ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna) of possible violations. They did not respond.

The Jean Charcot, the ICCAT inspection vessel will not venture south of 33 Degrees 40 Minutes North.

With two fishing vessels containing angry Italian crews, there were risks involved with getting into the water to assess the bluefin catch. But if the catch was illegal, Sea Shepherd divers knew they must cut the nets and free the bluefin tuna.

Sometimes it is necessary to do what needs to be done despite the risks. The risk of losing the bluefin tuna as a species is far more important than the risks to our own lives and freedom.

And so we decided to free the tuna.

At 1600 hours, a five-person dive crew entered one of two cages being towed by the Italian fishing vessel Cesare Rustico.

As the Steve Irwin held off the Cesare Rustico and the support ship Rosaria Tuna, the Sea Shepherd crew dove into the net to identify the size, age, and quantity of the bluefin tuna within. Once it was clearly established that the cage was overstocked and that a high percentage were juveniles, Sea Shepherd divers freed the 700-800 tuna.

It is our position that the bluefin tuna we freed from that cage held a large number of juveniles and that the fish were caught after the official closure of the season. It is also our position that the fish that we freed exceeded the quota.

A large percentage of the tuna were juveniles and from the position of the cages and the fact that the entire Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery closed at midnight on June 14th, Sea Shepherd is convinced that this catch was caught after June 14 and therefore Sea Shepherd holds the position that this operation by these two vessels was illegal.*

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is not a protest organization. Sea Shepherd is an anti-poaching organization and these two seiners are poachers.

A Sea Shepherd cameraman filmed the release of the fish from the centre of the cage and swimmers confirmed that all 700-800 tuna inside the enclosure were freed.

“They shot out of that net like racehorses,” said Canadian cameraman Simon Ager.

After freeing the bluefin tuna, the Steve Irwin headed north and out of the waters claimed by Libya. The Maltese media reported that Libya had dispatched warships to pursue the Steve Irwin.

There are claims in the Maltese press that a bluefin tuna fisherman was injured by our actions. No one on the Steve Irwin, in the helicopter, or in the Delta saw any incident where a fisherman was injured. We saw one man dive into the water from the side of the cage. Then, we saw him get up and give us the rude Italian arm signal. Another fisherman slashed at the crew with a hook on the end of a long pole, and one of the vessels rammed us in the port stern area.

* Notes

Given the very bad weather conditions in the zone north of Tripoli until the closure of the legal fishing season on June 14th, it is impossible that this catch was taken during the legal season. The tuna were caught post-closure, during a period of very calm weather that has predominated over the area since the 15th.

Legal Season:
Wind speed 12th June: 20-35 knots / Seas 1-2 meters
Wind speed 13th June: 20-25 knots / Seas 1-2 meters
Wind speed 14th June: 10-20 knots / Seas 1-2 meters

Post closure:
Wind speed 15th June: 10-15 knots / Seas 1 meter
Wind speed 16th June: 15 knots / Seas <1 meter Wind speed 17th June: 10 knots / Seas <1 meter

The Steve Irwin passed the Khandeel 2 (one of the vessels on the BCD document read over the VHF radio) on the 13th at 1230 at 33*36 / 13*55, less than 20 miles from where we encountered the cages towed by Cesare Rustico and Rosario Tuna on the 17th, and it was not fishing. The weather was rough.

Given the location of the capture, and the location of the tow vessel, it is impossible the catch was made 3 days ago. Heading towards Malta with an average 25 miles per day, the vessel and cage would have been much further north (the vessel was in very calm weather sitting still waiting a second vessel).

Visit our Operation Blue Rage Campaign site – http://www.seashepherd.org/blue-rage/

Area for Slaughterhouse squatted

In the early morning of May 24th, around 30 independent activists have
sqatted a field in Wietze near Celle / Hannover where europe’s biggest
chicken-slaughterhouse (2,5 Million / week) shall be built.

They’ve put up a tripod and a concrete-barrel with chains to avoid an easy
eviction. The situation is great, the owner’s don’t have a consensus, the

In the early morning of May 24th, around 30 independent activists have
sqatted a field in Wietze near Celle / Hannover where europe’s biggest
chicken-slaughterhouse (2,5 Million / week) shall be built.

They’ve put up a tripod and a concrete-barrel with chains to avoid an easy
eviction. The situation is great, the owner’s don’t have a consensus, the
police has no legal background for an eviction and locals bring loads of
vegan food and stuff.

During the squatting there will be workshops and lectures like vegan
cooking, animal exploitation, ecology and capitalism, other theory, vegan
drum-building or tripod-building and concerts with (probably) the Kafkas,
Fidl Kunterbunt…

There’s enough place, feel welcome!!!

antiindustryfarm.blogsport.de