Here’s to an incredible first action ..
Here’s to an incredible first action ..
In 24 hours the Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano made a small estimated release of 7,412 tons of CO2, in doing so grounding 60% of European flights for the day and preventing the release of 206,465 tons of CO2. I make that the most successful direct action of all time – hats off to the world’s latest domestic extremist.
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/planes-or-volcano
scroll down for latest dates…
8-10 October 2010
Earth First! tree planting weekend – Treesponsibility
10 October 2010
Glasgow airport shut-down action
12 October 2010
scroll down for latest dates…
8-10 October 2010
Earth First! tree planting weekend – Treesponsibility
10 October 2010
Glasgow airport shut-down action
12 October 2010
Global Minga for Mother Earth
12-16 October 2010
Direct Action for Climate Justice, CJA call-out
13 October 2010
It’s Hammertime! – Smash EDO
16 October 2010
Crude Awakening – big oil day of action in London City
23-24 October 2010
Stop Nuclear Power Network UK Gathering, Bristol
10-12 December 2010
Earth First! tree planting weekend – Treesponsibility
=========
Old dates from this calendar:
2010
15-17 January 2010
Peace News Winter Gathering, Nottingham
23-26 January 2010
Mainshill Pre-Eviction Gathering
5-7 February 2010
EF! Winter Moot, North East England
12-14 February 2010
UK Rossport Solidarity Gathering, Nottingham
19-21 February 2010
Camp for Climate Action national ‘where next?’ gathering, Bristol – regional ones happening over January & February (details here)
26-28 February 2010
No Borders Winter Gathering, Nottingham
14 March 2010
UK Tar Sands Campaign Gathering, York
11am till 6pm (Vegan lunch by donation)
With BP’s AGM just 1 month away, and 2 weeks of actions planned for 1st to 15th April, come and connect with other UK-based Tar Sands campaigners, share ideas and create actions. We’ll be looking at strategies and actions for targeting Shell, BP and the Royal Bank of Scotland – Britain’s Dirty Threesome on Tar Sands investment.
We’re meeting in Derwent College, York University, room D/056 – from the station or city centre, take bus number 4 to the very last stop, walk back about 50 meters, and the road entrance to the college is signed on the left. D/056 is accessed from the outside, beyond the dining hall and ponds.
1 April 2010
Fossil Fools Day
1-4 April 2010
The Huntington Lane Fossil Fools weekend convergence
1-15 April 2010
BP Fortnight of Shame
including London Mass Action
17-18 April 2010
Social Centres in a Time of Crisis, Leeds
A weekend of workshops, discussions and socialising for everyone with an interest in radical autonomous social centres
22-23 April 2010
anti-aviation 48 hours of sticker-whacking, subvertising, adbusting pandemonium
23-26 April 2010
Anti-nuclear Camp, Suffolk – see latest EF!AU for details
6-10 May 2010
Activist Tat training week: putting up marquees, erecting and mending flat pack toilets, as well as technical and theoretical (power, plumbing etc) skillsharing
15 May 2010
Party at the Pumps 2
21 May-5 June 2010
Merthyr to Rossport solidarity bike ride – Climate Chains
5-8 June 2010
Rossport Solidarity Camp Gathering, Ireland
11-19 June 2010
World Naked Bike Ride – 11 June: Manchester, Southampton; 12 June, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London; 13 June: Brighton, Bristol; 19 June, Sheffield, York
18-21 June 2010
Outdoor Skillshare, Scotland
19 June 2010
National Gathering of the Stop Nuclear Power Network, London
25 June-31 August 2010
Ecotopia Biketour, from Critical Mass, Towards Car Free Cities Conference, to the French & German climate camps and much in between.
6-12 July 2010
Anti-Industrial Land Defence Action Camp, Catalonia
Go only if you can speak Catalan or Spanish – http://acampadaderesistencies.blogspot.com
14-22 July 2010
Nordic climate action camp, Southern Sweden
22 July-1 August 2010
French Camp Action Climat, near Le Havre
22 July-2 August 2010
Swiss climate camp Fr / De
23-27 July 2010
Peace News Summer Camp, Oxfordshire
29 July-4 August 2010
Belgian Climate Camp, near Liege
4-9 August 2010
EF! Summer Gathering, Derbyshire
12-16 August 2010
Irish Climate Camp, County Tyrone
13-17 August 2010
Climate Camp Cymru
21-24 August 2010
Climate Camp targets RBS in Edinburgh: Action Days
21-29 August 2010
German Klimacamp, near Erkelenz
27-30 August 2010
National Animal Rights Gathering, near Northampton
27-29 August 2010
Dutch Earth First! Gathering and CJA meeting – Groen Front!
THE BATH BOMB
@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #29
free/donation
Apr ’10
“An unstoppable juggernaut of journalistic intent”
Hard Pressed To Avoid ‘Em
As mentioned back in the apparently nigh-oracular Bath Bomb #11, Tesco have finally admitted their schemes for the old Bath Press site on Lower
THE BATH BOMB
@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #29
free/donation
Apr ’10
“An unstoppable juggernaut of journalistic intent”
Hard Pressed To Avoid ‘Em
As mentioned back in the apparently nigh-oracular Bath Bomb #11, Tesco have finally admitted their schemes for the old Bath Press site on Lower
Bristol Road. The five-acre site was bought by Tesco’s London-based front group St James’s Investments in 2008, though Tesco always straight-
facedly maintained the developers were nothing to do with them. After sniffing round the city for decades, they’ve now finally submitted an
application for a superstore in Bath, and spokesman Quentin Webster claims that a series of public consultations are on the cards for later in the
year; although they presumably won’t take “fuck off” for an answer.
Various studies spell out supermarket encroachment as bad news for jobs and small retailers, as well as the environment: when large supermarkets
are built on the edges of city centres, other grocers lose between 13% and 50% of their trade – yet more shop closures – and, according to the
National Retail Planning Forum in ’98, each new superstore accounts for the loss on average of 276 full-time positions in an area. Meanwhile,
whilst the city houses only 80,000 or so, the supermarket plague is due an outbreak soon: Sainsburys, Tesco and a Lidl all in one long row on
Lower Bristol, two Sainsbury Expresses in the centre, Sainsbury’s Local on Moorland Road, a Tesco Express on Bathwick Hill and another in Weston,
a Morrisons on the London Road and yet another Sainsburys in Odd Down!
The hotly contested Tesco Express at Bathwick Hill quickly closed down neighbouring indie Bathwick Stores, as feared, but only time will tell for
the future of the unique, bustling village high street vibe of Moorland Road; hopefully, there’s fight left in them yet.
Put Out For The Night
Another month, another move at the Black Cat, Bath’s increasingly itinerant social centre. Attempts to negotiate with the Council to arrange a
lease failed early in the month, with Council officials dismissing the proposals out of hand – and throwing in some personal insults to boot – and
taking the centre straight to court. The first eviction attempt, on Friday 26th March, was easily seen off by a large public demo outside. The
show of support was sufficient that the bailiffs didn’t even get out of their car before driving off.
After a weekend of barricading (with help from the recently evicted Tesco occupation in Stoke’s Croft) and an excellent celebratory dub night,
bailiffs returned in force early on Monday morning. With full police support, a cherry picker and a pair of bolt croppers allegedly costing £450,
it took them over two and a half hours to clear the building – their biggest obstacle being a bleary-eyed but determined rooftop occupation by a
man in a dressing gown.
Although saddened, the Black Cat Collective suffered no arrests and only minor injuries (sustained when bailiffs removed a vital escape ladder
from the roof), and have taken a much-needed week out. They’re now back again with a new building at 100 Walcot St, open 12-7pm every day from
12.04.10.
The public reaction has been vocal and strong, with many people criticising the cost of the eviction – an alleged £30,000 – when the Centre had
repeatedly offered to pay a small amount of rent. The Collective have vowed to keep up pressure on the Council to provide community-controlled
social spaces. If that sounds like something you support, there’s a petition online at www.petitionspot.com/petitions/
blackcatbath, or drop by the centre to find out how you can help out.
Proper Tea Is Theft?
Ethos Café of Walcot Street is yet another victim of B&NES Property and Legal Services’ stitch-ups, of which the Black Cat also recently fell
foul.
In the continuing greed-inspired transformation of Walcot Street from its ‘artisans quarter’ charter origins to Bland Identikit Shopping Strip
#43712, the Council have forced out Ethos in the same way as they did the Hat & Feather, Doollallys, Walcot Rec, Crock A Doodle Doo, Speaking
Tree, Walcotmart, and indeed, even the much-loved Walcot Nation Day festival. Rent for the petite, indie caff had shot up from £11K to £12K per
annum, with strings attached to an inflexible 12-year lease, kicking the charming fair-trade Walcot regular to the streets – even though its
higher-turnover neighbours face only £10K each.
Completely lacking in co-operation and accountability as ever, unelected Property Services’ Sarah ‘Iron Lady’ Marshman toed the Council line of
refusing to meet their clients even halfway; not only do they “not negotiate with squatters”, they apparently don’t negotiate with what they view
as legitimate business, either – unless they’re supermarkets. Never mind the fact they’re refusing to reimburse Ethos for the central heating they
installed, or any of a host of other improvements. But then again, they equally mugged the owners of Glasstone Records for the roofing, windows
and disabled toilet they had to put in at Riverside Business Park. The phrase ‘robber barons’ comes to mind.
But with B&NES’ apparent going-out-of-business-as-usual plans for Bath’s smaller and less socially-destructive companies, and boarding going up on
vacant units up and down London Road, Walcot Street and throughout the rest of the city, we wonder to ourselves: who’s next?
And now, to the disclaimer: As anyone is free to contribute, the opinions expressed in each article are not necessarilly reflective of each
contributor. Naturally, any right-wing or corporate bullshit will be binned and spat upon. Needless to say, the opinions of the author of this
disclaimer do not necessarilly represent the views of any other contributor.
Maybe Mayday Melee?
Ah, spring. A time of flowers, warmth, swallow migrations and frolicking bunnies. A time to look back and realise the class war is as alive as
ever, and the bosses still screw us. Since before the Chicago Haymarket Riot of 1886 when martyred anarchists and workers won the eight-hour cap
on the working day, Mayday has long been associated with workplace struggle. And today, with PCS civil servants, Unite/BA cabin crew, UCE uni and
college lecturers (plus student support), NASUWT and NUT teaching staff up and down the country on strike or close (be it over low pay, insulting
redundancy/pension measures, or education cuts), things are no different. Indeed, conniving management at Network Rail struck below the belt at
the RMT and TSSA recently, whining to the High Court about the legitimate strike votes being invalid; it just goes to show that whilst the railway
signal workers and maintenance staff want a safe and efficient service, the bosses just want profits – no matter the cost, to workers’ rights or
even customers’ lives.
In light of all this, Bath Trades Council and friends plan a Mayday celebration/awareness-raising day of protest on Saturday May the 1st. Meeting
at 12.30 outside the Abbey, the event is still very much in the planning stage, so please get in touch to help make it something powerful:
bathactivistnet[at]yahoo.co.uk. Musicians are especially in demand! We may not be dancing round a Beltane maypole, or dancing on the ruins of
multinational corporations, but you gotta start somewhere.
GOT A STORY? WANT TO RECEIVE THE BATH BOMB BY EMAIL? HOPING TO SUE? Contact us by emailing bathbombpress[at]yahoo.co.uk. Large print e-versions
available on request. And for more info on any of our stories, check out http://www.thebathbomb.blogspot.com
Bordering On Insanity
An agency of crazy white people in the UK pledges to kidnap and deport brown people, unless they either have the one correct piece of paper they
require, or they’re actually Europeans: in which case it’s fine.
The Rajpoot curry house in Argyle Street was raided by these mobsters on the 24th of March, with two people kidnapped and questioned by white
nationalists in a building called a ‘police station,’ even though most things done there are illegal.
Thanks to some cunning investigative journalism, the Bath Bomb can now reveal that the crazies appear to work for an organization called the ‘UK
Border Agency,’ a collective of fanatical statists who think their permission is required in order to enter UK territory.
Although the Agency has not yet produced evidence that it owns the 94,060 square miles of land standing for the British territory, it still
behaves as if it was so. Regional crazy white person Jane Farleigh warns in the Chronicle: ‘If people choose to flout the law, we will find them
and look to remove them from the country.’
Apparently unaware that the British territory is an open-field natural resource and not the Border Agency’s private property, Ms Farleigh wants
all of you to help her track down people who think liberty is a right, so she can then deport them, and the laws of Nazi Germany be finally
obeyed. But in Britain.
You can help that organization of crazies fail by feeding them false information, at 01275 841500.
Beneath The Paving… The Beach?
A bizarre-Bath style crimewave is striking fear deep into the heart of Bathonians, allegedly. As reported in the Chron, a ring of illicit,
pseudo-Situationist, pavement-thieves have struck the city, causing rifts in the city’s criminal underworld. With 10m stretches of granite
pavement slabs being prised up in Lansdown, Sion Hill, and throughout the city, is nothing sacred? Police, fearful of potential bricks to the
skull, are urging residents to report any suspicious workmen activity or delivery trucks capable of shifting heavy loads in the area. Whatever
next – elderly women’s grand piano robberies? The taking of liberties? The taking of piss?
Come Shell Or High Water
As a follow-on from the national ‘Fossil Fools Day’ of environmental action against polluting big business, members of Bristol & Bath Rising Tide
visited the Shell garage on Muller Road, Eastville, on the morning of Saturday 3rd April, laying temporary pipelines and holding placards. They
went there to highlight the repression experienced by communities in Ireland, currently combating Shell’s attempts to build an onshore
experimental high pressure pipeline and gas refinery.
The community in Erris, County Mayo, has seen continued harassment and intimidation by the Gardai police and Shell security for over a decade. In
February, fisherman Pat O’Donnell was sentenced to seven months for ‘breach of the peace’ and ‘obstructing a Garda’, after his boat was boarded
and sunk by masked men. Hysterically, as Shell’s pipe-lying ship ‘the Solitaire’ operated off the coast, Irish Navy gunboats and Air Force spotter
planes joined police and private security to control the 100-strong demo ashore. But the tales of dodgy shit just keep on coming: Shell security
staff have been discovered recently in Bolivian terrorist groups, trying to destabilise the region and kick-start civil war.
Construction of the gas refinery has already resulted in the pollution of local drinking water, with untreated waste chemicals like lead,
mercury, arsenic and radon being pumped into Broadhaven Bay, despite its ‘Special Area of Conservation’ status. Yet despite the scale of state
repression there, the campaign just won’t pipe down, having already set the pipeline’s completion date back from 2003 to 2013.
http://www.shelltosea.com/node/21
http://risingtide.org.uk/node/336
www.indymedia.ie/article/96167
EVENTS
Bath Hunt Saboteurs meetings, 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, 8pm, The Bell, Walcot Street
Debt advice drop-in, Tuesdays, 4-7pm, Black Cat Centre, http://www.blackcatcentre.blogspot.com
London Road Food Co-op, Wednesdays, 4-7pm, Riverside Community Centre, London Road
The Lost Plot workday, Thursdays, 10am-dusk, Bathampton
Bath Stop The War Coalition vigil, Saturdays, 11.30am-12.30, Bath Abbey Courtyard
Recycle Your Sundays, Sundays, 10.30am, starts Abbey Churchyard, the regular series of sociable, easy-paced cycle rides,
http://www.bathrys.org.uk/ tel Hazel 01225 469199
Black Cat Centre general meeting, Sundays, 1-3pm, Black Cat Centre, http://www.blackcatcentre.blogspot.com
‘Fortnight of Shame’: two weeks of action against BP’s investment in tar sands extraction, now to15th April, contact bristol[at]risingtide.org.uk
FFI
Horse Racing Awareness week demo, Friday 9th April, Westgate Street, contact bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk FFI
Bristol Industrial Workers of the World meeting, Friday 9th April, starts 7pm (8.30-10pm open to non-members), GWRSA, outside Bristol Temple Meads
train station, e-mail bristoliww[at]riseup.net FFI
Bristol Eco-Village public meeting, Friday 9th April, 7.30pm, Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol
Bath FreeShop, Saturday 10th April, 12-3pm, outside Pump Rooms, Stall Street
Broadlands Orchardshare Volunteering Day, Saturday 10th April, 12-4pm, Broadlands Orchard, Box Road, Bathford,
http://www.bathford.net/broadlands.php
talk: ‘The Chartists and Their Legacy’, Saturday 10th April, 2pm, New Room (Wesley Chapel), 36 The Horsefair, Bristol, BS1 3JE
‘Defend our Public Services’ march and rally, Saturday 10th April, London, tickets for coach available, http://www.10410demo.co.uk
Bath Animal Action meeting, Monday 12th April, 8-9pm, The Bell, Walcot Street
talk: (Steve) Mills & (Ian) Bone, Monday 12th April, 7.30pm, The Stag & Hounds, 74 Old Market Street, Bristol
AstraZeneca anti-vivisection demo, Tuesday 13th April, 3.30-6pm, AstraZeneca Avlon Works, Severn Road, Hallen, Bristol, BS10 7ZE; if you need
transport or further info, e-mail barc[at]hotmail.co.uk
skillshare: ‘Freeskilling – Conscious Communication (Non-violent Communication)’, Tuesday 13th April, 7pm, Better Food Co. Cafe, St Werburghs,
Bristol
talk: ‘Thomas Spence – the Forgotten Revolutionary’, Wednesday 14th April, 7.30pm, The Scout Hut (Benjamin Perry Boat House), Redcliffe Wharf,
Bristol
Bath Green Drinks, Wednesday 14th April, 8.30pm, the Rising Sun, Grove Street
Radical Debate Club: ‘Migrants and Borders’, Thursday 15th April, 7pm, Black Cat Centre, Walcot Street
benefit gig against homelessness in Taunton, Thursday 15th April, 7-11pm, the Roadhouse, Taunton, free, feat Clayton Blizzard, 51st State, Rat
Bandits and Two Minute Hour; http://www.anonpromo.co.uk
talk: ‘Vote, Protest And Riot’, Thursday 15th April, 7.30pm, GWRSA, outside Bristol Temple Meads train station
course; ‘Design & Build a Compost Loo’, Friday 16th to Sunday 18th April and Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th April, Monkton Wyld Court, nr Charmouth,
Bridport, Dorset, DT6 6DQ, phone 01297 560342 or e-mail info[at]monktonwyldcourt.org
Bristol Eco-Village BIG SWOOP!, Saturday 17th April, location tbc, e-mail bitsofwood[at]riseup.net to get involved
Update and discussion on the planning process, Sunday 18th April, 11-3.30pm, £5 adavanced booking essential by 5th April, e-mail afrelmira[at]
googlemail.com
Bristol Convention of the Left planning meeting, Monday 19th April, 6.30-8.30pm, Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol
Green Light lectures: ‘Energy Futures and Global Cooling’, Monday 19th April, doors open 7pm, BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, £3 entry/£1.50
concessions
talk: ‘Votes for Ladies: The Suffragette Movement 1903-1914’, Monday 19th April, 7.00pm, Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol
‘An Agenda for Humanity: Peace, Justice and Environment’ meeting with election candidates in Bath, Wednesday 21st April, 7.30pm, Friends Meeting
House, York Street, e-mail postmaster[at]bathstopwar.org.uk FFI
talk: ‘Every Cook Can Govern: From Athens To Westminster?’, Wednesday 21st April, 7.30pm, CWRSA, outside Bristol Temple Meads train station
‘Get Your Sticker On’ Plane Stupid subvertise challenge, Thursday 22nd to Friday 23rd April, location tbc, e-mail info[at]planestupid.com
gig: ‘The Liberty Tree’, Friday 23rd April, 7.30pm, The Thunderbolt, The Olde Turnpike,124 Bath Road, Totterdown, BS4 3ED, £7 door, feat Leon
Rosselson and Robb Johnson
Camp Against Nuclear New Build, Friday 23rd to Monday 26th April, Sizewell, Suffolk, http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net
‘STOP The Cuts’ community day and march, Saturday 24th April, 12 noon start, meet at Barton Hill Settlement or Beacon Centre, Bristol
Bristol Radical History Walk, Saturday 24th April, start 7.30pm, Central Ferry Landing, next to the waterfall in-between Anchor Road and Broad
Quay, Bristol
World Day for Lab Animals march in London, Saturday 24th April, coach 8.30am, leaving Bristol Temple Meads train station, £10 ticket
Mock Election bonfire night and music, Sunday 25th April, 7.30pm, Boiling Wells Project, St. Werburghs City Farm, Boiling Wells Lane, St.
Werburghs, Bristol, BS2 9YJ; feat The Blue Sequoias, Who’s Afear’d and the Surfin’ Turnips; bring and burn an effigy of your most despised public
figure!
Bath Socialist Forum, Monday 26th April, 8pm, upstairs at St James Wine Vaults
Kennet and Avon Users Forum, Thursday 29th April, 7pm, Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, Canal Centre, Devizes Wharf, Couch Lane, Devizes, SN10 1EB
Mayday demo, Saturday 1s May, 12.30 outside Bath Abbey
Bath Activist Network meeting, Thursday 6th May, 7.30-9pm, downstairs at The Hobgoblin, St James Parade,
http://www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com
Introductory Permaculture Weekend, Saturday 8th to Sunday 9th May, £50, for bookings e-mail afrelmira[at]googlemail.com
Bristol Eco Veggie Fayre, Saturday 29th to Sunday 30th May, the Ampitheatre, Waterfront Square, Bristol Harbourside,
http://bristol.ecoveggiefayre.co.uk/
‘Adapting to Climate Change’ week, 7th-11th June, see http://www.oursouthwest.com/climate FFI
Earth First! Summer Gathering, Wednesday 4th to Monday 9th August, Derbyshire, £20-30; five days of workshops, skill sharing and planning action,
plus low-impact living without leaders; e-mail summergathering[at]earthfirst.org.uk FFI
Sheikh, Rattle And Roll
In solidarity with the Palestinian neighbourhood Sheikh Jarrah, currently being bulldozed and facing other repression, actions took place up and
down the country on the 17th March; and Bath was no different. From 12 til 2.30pm, a typically-Bathonian size demo (six people!) took place
outside Barclays Bank on Milsom Street. With Barclays being the UK’s largest investor in the arms trade, with holdings of over £7.3bn, they are
also manufacturers of cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions, and invest in murderous outfits like Thales and Raytheon, who arm the Israeli
Defence Force. To go on, they also provide ‘market-maker’ services to everyone’s favourite ITT/EDO, home of the ‘Paveway’ missile laser-guidance
system that has so devastated Palestine and Iraq. On the day, concerned folks from Bath Activist Network and others distributed leaflets, with two
scaling a ladder to the lower roof to unveil a banner claiming ‘Barclays: Global Dealers in Death’, in the face of burly but confused security
guards. Most of the passing public received the demo well, with only a couple of idiots advocating war as a way of solving arguments and as being
vital for human evolution.
Bath Bomb Dictionary Corner: market-maker (n) a corporate middle-man, purchasing shares from a seller and holding them until such a time as a
buyer becomes available
Bath Activist Network are a local umbrella group campaigning on issues as diverse as development, environmentalism, anti-war, animal rights,
workers’ rights and more. Helping to produce the Bath Bomb, we are open to anyone, and our members range from trade unionists to anarchists,
liberals and greens, and people who just want to change Bath for the better. For details on meetings, demos, or just to get in touch, email
bathactivistnet[at]yahoo.co.uk or see our website: www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com
Theory Corner: On Lawful Rebellion And Resistance
There’s been a lot of talk recently about producing a claim of right and declaring our independence as individuals, which we can do under article
61 of the Magna Carta. This is an approach to resistance that was chosen, among others, by market anarchist Mike Gogulski, who, after having fled
from fascist America, decided to send a form of citizenship renunciation. Other renunciants include members of the nationalist UK Independence
Party.
While escaping the state’s grasping hands is certainly legitimate, anarcho-syndicalist Michael Bindner has argued that this was far from enough in
the long term. One is free, an entire class remains in subjection. Also at issue is the ability of a person to renounce citizenship. Hence whether
article 61 is meaningful, for instance, for the poor who actually need benefits to survive?
This author is also annoyed at the positivism of the whole affair. That is, one is allowed to be left alone, not because he has a right to, but
because it was written down centuries ago. What if it hadn’t been included in the Magna Carta? Too bad, let’s go get tea now?
Lawful rebellion is a good tool if you already are a mostly independent individual, like capitalist Gogulski above; but it is not founded in law
because governing without consent is not lawful anyway. Therefore, the process is here stood on its head: whereas your consent should be required
before you get citizenship, you have to go to the length of renouncing it. Since living under the government was never validated by any process
where refusal was possible and meaningful, it follows that no one is truly a citizen, yet.
Therefore, renouncing citizenship is a recognition that one was actually a citizen – I’m a hostage; also, that the Magna Carta creates our rights
– my rights are natural and do not depend on an old piece of paper; finally, that the government respects our rights – when what it does is
writing down what we will have and what we won’t.
For those reasons, I find lawful rebellion disturbing to say the least, and enjoin everyone to build up free communities instead; the very act of
which will make an actual citizen out of you, rather than a hostage passively paying bills and inserting a piece of paper in a box every few
years.
Lappersfort Gets Evicted – Who Threw The First Bank Note?
On the 4th of March, the Belgian authorities evicted the occupiers of the Lappersfort forest, in the name of the property rights of Fabricom, the
‘owner’ of that forest. The forest has been occupied since 2001. It was a stronghold of activist resistance, and a wonder for all those who
cherish nature and self-sufficiency.
Beyond the pain and the rage, I would be interested to know who Fabricom ‘bought’ the forest from? And how was it ‘their’ forest? How do you even
sell a forest? How do you own it? I wish we were back in the day when common sense had a chance in this world.
Today, in the case of the Black Cat, we see the same folly in the form of the publicly-owned Newark Works. I believe you will find this phrasing
is incorrect. The public stands in the same relation to this building as Fabricom did to the Lappersfort forest: they are outsiders. They have
never touched the Works and they probably never will, not in the collective fashion that is entailed by the word ‘public’. Use and homesteading
being the basis of ownership in land, it follows occupiers and squatters were more the owners than their remote (but wealthy) opponents.
It is also wrong to assume that the public chose to buy this building; the Council did. A minority of individuals pretending to represent the
public, against the very plain fact that an individual is a world unto themself, and therefore unable to be fully and accurately represented by
anyone.
How did the Council get their hands on the two and half million pounds for the purchase? Well, they seem to have a system in place whereby they
simply state the amount of money they need, and take it, without leaving the taxpayers free to refuse, with only vague promises of change every
few years.
This act of theft obviously cannot be considered legitimate; therefore, the Council does not own the money that was used to acquire the Newark
Works, even on the flawed representative system terms. So let’s give a toast to the wealthy thieves who believe throwing bank notes at people
gives them a title in land.
And Now A Word From Our Sponsors…
Anti-aviation campaigning group Plane Stupid have issued a ‘Get Your Sticker On!’ 48-hour subvertising competition to take place in towns up and
down the land from Thursday the 22nd to Friday 23rd of April. As currently contested over the proposed expansion of Bristol Airport, the industry
loves to pretend that they are just responding to the public’s desires by offering ever more flights, ever more noise and ever more emissions.
But, like tobacco advertising, flying promotion needs to become a thing of the past. Until then, let’s subvertise! For the beginners amongst you,
you can download designs from Plane Stupid’s Flickr site to stick over existing adverts – or of course DIYourself. They then advise to take some
pics, set up a temporary anonymous address at an internet cafe, and e-mail your handiwork to info[at]planestupid.com. The group who stickers the
most images in 48 hours wins prizes!
And words from the wise: “Use your head, and remember to dress well for the occasion – caps and scarfs are just the thing for subvertising season.
Some officers of the law may be convinced that subvertising is borderline illegal, so take a friend as lookout, keep an eye open for CCTV and
don’t get caught.”
http://www.nobristolairportexpansion.co.uk/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/planestupid
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/manchester/2007/12/388098.html?c=on
http://www.bugaup.org/
Ecological Direct Action without Compromise
5 days of workshops, skill sharing and planning action, plus low-impact living without leaders.
Meet people, learn skills, take action.
For latest details, see http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/
Set-up plans & call-out
Location
Programme
Ecological Direct Action without Compromise
5 days of workshops, skill sharing and planning action, plus low-impact living without leaders.
Meet people, learn skills, take action.
For latest details, see http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/
Set-up plans & call-out
Location
Programme
Want to do something to stop our planet from getting trashed?
EF! is about direct action to halt the destruction of the Earth. It’s about doing it yourself rather than relying on leaders, governments or industry. Direct action is at the heart of it, whether you’re standing in front of a bulldozer, shutting down an open-cast mine or ripping up a field of GM crops.
We’re a loose network of people, groups and campaigns coming together for ecological direct action.
Join us for 5 days of workshops, networking and planning actions, run without leaders by everyone who comes along. The gathering is also a practical example of low-impact eco-living and non-hierarchical organising.
What’s happening?
Over 80 workshops, discussions, planning, strategy and ‘where next’ sessions:
*Share and learn skills for kick-ass actions on land and water.
Small boat handling and blockading using kayaks / Blockading – tripods, lock-ons/ Fences / Climbing skills / Action reconnaissance / Security for Activists / Strategy and tactics / How to research corporations /
*Network current campaigns against ecological destruction
Open-cast mining / Genetic engineering / Agrofuels / Saving Iceland / Climate actions / Pipeline resistance in Rossport / Anti-nuclear / Airport expansion/ Tar Sands
*Think about eco-centric ethics and alternative ways of organising
Deep green ethics / Anarchist economics / Anarchist history / Radical Politics / Working without leaders/ Consensus decision-making
*Practical skills for ecological restoration and sustainable living.
Introduction to Ecology / Restoration ecology / Flora and Fauna identification / Vegan Cake making / Power from solar and wind / wild food / Squatting / Bike maintenance
As well as international campaigns round-up, networking and planning for future actions.
Cost and practical things
£20-30 according to what you can afford.
The gathering is in Derbyshire, the exact location will be announced the week before. More info on our website.
Find out more and join in!
Email us if you can offer a workshop, want to help out with the gathering or if you would like posters and leaflets to distribute.
We have now a stack of freshly printed posters advertising the gathering. If you’d like to send you some to stick up in your area or to take to events, festivals and the like, please email us. Alternatively you can also download the files and print your own. They are fairly large files! EF! gathering poster (A4)
We are now looking for people to run workshops and discussions at the gathering. Please contact us if you can offer something. Have a look at our programme page to see the kind of thing we’re looking for.
http://www.earthfirst.org.uk, summergathering _ NOSPAM _ @ _ NOSPAM earthfirst.org.uk
6th April 2010
6th April 2010
4 men and 1 woman were arrested and charged on Wednesday 31st March for speaking in public about the climate effects of aviation at the reopening of Glasgow Airport Terminal 2. The group from Stop Expansion at Scottish Airports (SESA), including a legal observer and two photographers, were leaving the airport after holding a banner for a photograph outside Terminal 1 when a police van and police car pulled up and arrested 4 of the group.
Late into the night, riot police later went to the homes of the arrested without warrants. On Thursday the 5 were charged with obstructing normal airport business. All of the accused deny the charges. The group believes that those arrested were targetted because SESA is calling for a public non-violent peaceful protest at the airport on October 10.
Amelia Birrell, had riot police at her door after midnight saying that they wanted to question her son, Robbie. She said: “I think that this justice system is a joke when it locks up peaceful individuals until 6pm the next day when they are talking about such serious measures as climate change. We were made to feel like criminals when riot police searched around the whole of our house in the middle of the night. I know that the airport is a sensitive place but they are all passionate individuals worried about the future of our country and they were doing nothing to cause any disturbance. I am proud of my son, we are supposed to have freedom of speech in this country and such heavy handed policing is disproportionate and hypocritical.”
This is not the first time that Scottish anti-airport expansion campaigners have been subject to heavy-handed policing tactics. In January 2009 Geoff Lamb, a pensioner from Aberdeen was been held in a cell overnight for innocently writing ‘you fly, we die’ in the snow in food dye. Later in 2009, Plane Stupid exposed a massive police operation to bribe and infiltrate peaceful protest groups.
The disproportionate tactics we have seen by Strathclyde police mirror those infamously used by the Metropolitan police. Arrested for voicing concerns about the aviation industry’s massive and growing contribution to climate change? Who are the real criminals here?
**Please forward on to your networks, if you would like some posters/flyers to display, please get in touch**
///Outdoor Skillshare/// 18-21 June
An exciting weekend of workshops and skillsharing in rural Scotland.
Come and learn:
climbing and rope access, building tree houses, tunnelling, cooking for the masses, knot-tying, fire-lighting, wild foods and more!
**Please forward on to your networks, if you would like some posters/flyers to display, please get in touch**
///Outdoor Skillshare/// 18-21 June
An exciting weekend of workshops and skillsharing in rural Scotland.
Come and learn:
climbing and rope access, building tree houses, tunnelling, cooking for the masses, knot-tying, fire-lighting, wild foods and more!
At Mainshill Solidarity Camp we occupied land facing destruction. We lived outside, grew as a community and took continuous targeted action.
We want to focus on the skills needed to occupy and defend land with a weekend long event bringing people together to learn and share the skills for living outdoors as a community, building defences, resisting evictions and thinking about strategies for action.
These are transferable skills that can be taken away and used in a wide range of campaigns and actions.
This skillshare will be a safe, inclusive and participatory environment for learning new practical skills and is open to people of all abilities and experiences. If you have any queries or special requirements, please let us know – we will do our best to accommodate everyone’s needs.
We will be asking for donations toward food and other costs from those that can afford it.
If you want to find out more, or if you have skills you want to share then please contact us at: outdoorskillshare@riseup.net
//Workshop Timetable//
Friday
8:00-10:00 Breakfast
11:00 Workshop Facilitator Drop-in (2 hours, 11-13:00)
12:00 Confidence Building and Mutual Support (1 hour, 12-13:00)
13:00- 14:00 Lunch
14:00 Dealing with Problem Behaviour and Encouraging Participation (1
hour, 14-15:00)
16:00-16:30 Tea Break
16:30 Trip to Mainshill (2 hours, 16:30-18:30)
18:30- 19:00 Welcome Session
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Pub Quiz
22:00 Music. Jam. Fire.
00:00 Bedtime
Saturday
8:00-10:00 Breakfast
9:30-10:00 Welcome Session
10:00 Cooking for the Masses (3 hours, 10-13:00)
Fire Building and Lighting (1 hour, 10-11:00)
Tree climbing, general rope access skills (2 hours, 10-12:00)
Tripods (2 hours, 10- 12:00)
12:00Tool Use and Care (1 hour, 12-13:00)
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00 Facilitation for Consensus (2 hours,14-16:00)
Overcoming Oppression (2 hours, 14-16:00)
Tunnelling (2 hours, 14-16:00)
Vegan Baking (2 hours, 14-16:00)
16:00 Tea Break
16:30 Legal Observing (1.5 hours, 16:30-18:00)
Self Defence (1.5 hours, 16:30-18:00)
Site Electrics (1.5 hours, 16:30-18:00)
Tactics and Strategy for Defence (1 hour, 16:30-17:30)
18:00 Knots (1 hour, 18-19:00)
Protecting Your Habitat inc. toilets (1 hour, 18-19:00)
Radios (1 hour, 18-19:00)
19:00-20:00 Dinner
20:00 Films Talks, Craft Session
22:00 Open Mic
00:00 Bedtime
Sunday
8:00-10:00 Breakfast
9:30-10:00 Site Meet-up
10:00 First Aid (3 hours, 10-13:00)
Herb and Plant Identification (1 hour, 10-11:00)
Map reading and Navigation for beginners (2 hours, 10-12:00)
Treehouse Building (2 hours, 10-12:00)
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00 Blockading for Beginners (2 hours, 14-16:00)
Fences – getting through, over etc. (2 hours, 14-16:00)
Tree climbing- advanced, Arbouring etc. (2 hours, 14-16:00)
15:00 Comms (1 hour, 15-16:00)
16:00 Tea Break
16:30 Dragon Dynamics Empowerment Skillshare (2 hours 16:30-18:30) Field
Plumbing (1.5 hours, 16:30-18:00)
Recces (2 hours 16:30-18:30)
Tree climbing,general rope access skills (2 hours 16:30-18:30)
19:00-20:00 Dinner
20:00 Music – Performances
00:00 DJ
03:00 Bedtime
Kids’ Workshops
Saturday
10:00 Tree Identification (2 hours, 10-12:00)
14:00 Tree Climbing for Kids (aged 10+) (2 hours, 14-16:00)
Sunday
14:00 Consensus for Kids (2 hours, 14-16:00)
16:30 Clang, Bang, ShakeyShake, Crash! Making Instruments Out of Trash!
(2 hours, 16:30-18:30)
Lots more info at http://outdoorskillshare.noflag.org.uk
It’s that time of year when every airline starts aggressively advertising for your business. Well, we’ve had enough. Plane Stupid is inviting all of you to take part in its very own subvertising competition.
It’s that time of year when every airline starts aggressively advertising for your business. Well, we’ve had enough. Plane Stupid is inviting all of you to take part in its very own subvertising competition. From Thursday 22nd April – Friday 23rd April, we’ll be launching 48 hours of sticker-whacking, subvertising, adbusting pandemonium.
The aviation industry spends millions every year telling us that we’re no good to anyone unless we keep flying with them. So it’s time to hit back! Like tobacco adverts, aviation advertising needs to become a thing of the past. But until then, let’s subvertise. Any poster, advert or billboard is fair game.
Whether you’re a first time activist looking for an easy way-in, or an old timer looking for some light relief………it’s time to take to the streets and reclaim some public space. Taking part is easy:
1. You can download a choice of designs from our Flickr site, or use your design skills to make your own.
2. Print them out on standard, non divided, A4 sticker paper (available from most printers and stationers).
3. Then find your nearest aviation advertisement.
4. Stick ’em up punk!
5. Take photographs, set up a new temporary email address in an internet cafe (under a pseudonym) and email your images to info@planestupid.com.
The group who stickers the most adverts in the 48 hour period wins. Wins what? Prizes! We got the bumper crop of 5 spray cans, Culture Jam by Kalle Lasn, Do It Yourself, A handbook for changing our world, by the Trapese Collective and Scribbleboy by Philip Ridley to give away.
Of course don’t feel limited to individual stickers, think big! You can write your own message on large stretches of blank wall paper to cover whole bill boards. Make up some wall paper paste, get a paint roller, a stick it up. If necessary – attach the roller to a broom handle for those hard to reach places. Helpfully, there’s some great how-to guides on t’internet.
One last point. Please be respectful about where you sticker. Corporate nasties are fine…..but the local old people’s homes may not appreciate your art on their walls!
Use your head, and remember to dress well for the occasion – caps and scarves are the in thing this subvertising season. Some officers of the law may be convinced that subvertising is borderline illegal, so take a friend as lookout, keep an eye open for CCTV and don’t get caught.
15 March 2010
Legal action has been started to try to evict “Camp Cuckoo” campaigners who are fighting a road scheme in Essex.
Protesters are camped on Priory Crescent, Southend, opposing a £5m Cuckoo Corner road improvement scheme on the burial site of a Saxon King.
15 March 2010
Legal action has been started to try to evict “Camp Cuckoo” campaigners who are fighting a road scheme in Essex.
Protesters are camped on Priory Crescent, Southend, opposing a £5m Cuckoo Corner road improvement scheme on the burial site of a Saxon King.
Southend Borough Council said court papers had been served on protesters.
The king has been dubbed the “King of Bling” after archaeologists found gold at the 8th Century site and an earlier protest camp was named after him.
Protesters have put up six tents at Cuckoo Corner roundabout – at the opposite end of Priory Crescent where the previous camp, dubbed “Camp Bling”, was set up five years ago.
‘Significant disruption’
The council said the Cuckoo Corner scheme aimed to improve the flow of traffic at one of the town’s worst bottlenecks.
Lorraine Butler, interim head of enterprise, said: “The aim of the legal proceedings is to take back possession of the land so we can begin work.
“The protesters have no right to be there and their actions have already caused significant disruption.
“Peaceful protest is everybody’s right in a democratic society but any action that hinders the progress of the approved scheme is not acceptable.
“Their actions have left us with no alternative but to resort to legal proceedings to ensure we can progress with the scheme.”
18th March 2010 – possession order granted to council in the morning, protestors leave site in afternoon.
Mainstream videos: 1 | 2
20th March 2010 – trees felled from 8am-noon, with bailiff team present but no opposition to deal with in trees, and Chargecrest Security to keep people away
-> “Saturday was horrific and we are still trying to come to terms with what we saw and the way we were goaded and ridiculed and physically and verbally abused all day by the Council’s hired yobs. However, we know that we reached a great number of the public who were driving past and seeing the terrible things that the Council and its thugs were doing and they way in which we were conducting our peaceful protest. We had so much support from the public and we are still standing and will re-group and fight on even stronger than before. If it hadn’t been for SKIPP and our protest, the Council would’ve got away with this terrible destruction relatively scott-free so I really believe that we turned a terrible tragedy into a small victory and we are even more determined now to continue our fight to get those evil, corrupt “people” out of power.”
Video from tree-chopping day – protestors tractor-dive
1/3/2010
Community activists from the group Transition Heathrow have taken over an abandoned market garden threatened by the third runway. Around lunchtime, 20 people “swooped” on the land in Sipson, one of the villages due for demolition if the third runway at Heathrow goes ahead.
1/3/2010
Community activists from the group Transition Heathrow have taken over an abandoned market garden threatened by the third runway. Around lunchtime, 20 people “swooped” on the land in Sipson, one of the villages due for demolition if the third runway at Heathrow goes ahead.
More photos on Transition Heathrow’s Flickr stream.
After securing the site, the group immediately informed their new neighbours and local residents of their intention to reopen the old market garden for the benefit of the local community. The ‘Grow Heathrow’ project aims to encourage and support locally grown produce in an area that once had some of the most fertile soils in Britain.
Transition Heathrow has launched the project to highlight the need for a community controlled food supply in order to remain resilient to the impacts of peak oil and climate change. It intends to use the old market garden not only for growing, but also for activities such as bike workshops, clothes making, solidarity support for local workers and direct action workshops for people trying to stop the third runway.
Transition Heathrow member and local resident Joe Rake, described the events of the day. “Around lunchtime, a group of us walked onto the site. Once we had secured the gate, we set about telling local residents why we were there and inviting them to join in. We also had to start tidying up as it appeared to have been used for scrapping cars. Since the last tenants were evicted, the site has attracted unsavoury characters, so we wanted to restart the market garden for the good of the local community.”
Many of those involved in the ‘swoop’ see today’s action as a positive way of resisting the third runway whilst building an alternative community solution in its place. Heathrow resident Amy Summer said “We’ve been fighting the threat of the third runway for years, and its blighted our community. This kind of action not only helps stop expansion but also helps regenerate the area, providing local skills, green jobs and organic produce instead.”
“This form of direct action is just as important as sitting on a runway, blockading the bulldozers or striking for more green jobs. There’s no point in growing your own veg if it’s going to be covered in tarmac by BAA. At the same time there’s no point in community resistance if there’s no community left to defend. We have to do both,” she added.
27.2.2010
Important Update
27.2.2010
Important Update
6pm – so far, so good at Camp Cuckoo; food donations coming in but still need more people; latest twitter updates on PPPS website below or SKIPP facebook page.
Various sources have now confirmed that the Council will be felling the trees on Priory Crescent during Sunday. The affected stretch of Priory Crescent is going to be closed to traffic between midnight and 8pm Sunday.
There will be people climbing the trees to prevent them being felled – if you feel up to it, please volunteer! We also need as many people as possible on the ground to lend support, witness the Council’s, private security and Police’s actions and so on.
Please come down to lend your support. People have been campaigning against this road widening since 1972 and it’s all coming to a head tonight.
Additional from SKIPP: Urgent notice – help needed NOW! Tree felling begins tonight in Priory Crescent, anyone who can please come down to site, your help is desperately needed, if possible please cancel what ever you are doing, it is now or never, passive or active, you can help save the trees if we act together NOW… SKIPP Committee Contact: 07799414887 – mark 07747755205 – patsy Please let us know if you can help.
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After years of patient occupation and apparent victory, Southend activists have had to reoccupy land to prevent the councils new road building scheme. Evictions are expected imminently and crew are urgently needed.
Southend Borough Council has reneged on the agreement made last April with Bling and Parklife which resulted in an agreement with the residents to vacate the site.
Local Group SKIPP has since been campaigning to prevent the revised plan from becoming a reality, last week SKIPP joined force with Parklife, and Blingers to occupy a site in Priory Crescent with a view to preventing tree felling which is due in the next few days.
This morning a source within the Council informed us, that tree felling and eviction is now imminent.
Support is urgently needed, the site is situated in Priory Crescent on land adjacent to the Cuckoo Corner Roundabout; by car head into Southend using the A127, following the town centre signs, by train the nearest station is Prittlewell on the Liverpool Street Line.
(for background please refer to: www.campbling.org / www.ppps.org.uk / on facebook search for Saxon King In Priory Park.
Limited accommodation is available on site in the form of tents, please bring warm clothing and harness/lock on gear if poss, same old things needed; people, climbing gear/lock on gear, herras fencing, scaff bar/clips, kit and donations.
On Friday a council meeting was halted for 20 minutes following protests over the new plans.
