Action Reports – Page 241

Appeal for international solidarity: Nianfors Uranium drilling blockade, Sweden

Activists organise blockade to prevent test drilling for Uranium in Nianfors, North Sweden. We appeal for your support!!

During the last three months local activists have been involved in a dispute with a drilling company over prospecting for uranium close to a small village called Nianfors in north east Sweden.

Nianfors is located in a breathtakingly beautiful valley at the foot of the Majsaberget Mountain, the area is renowned for it’s forests, crystal clear lakes and rivers which provide habitat for a wide range of wildlife, flowers. insects and funghi.

In a bid to prevent test drilling activists have set up camp and have set up a blockade to prevent test drilling going ahead. The weather conditions this time of year are tough, some nights the temperature reaches -20 the snowfall can be up to 30cm deep, but people dress heavily and the comradery is wonderful, so the spirit is strong. We make food, sing songs and tell stories among ourselves to pass the time.
Any comrades who happen to pass this way are welcome to join us, everyone is welcome (Except test drilling companies!).

Our website is in Swedish and English, so hopefully you can read about our campaign. We have posted an online Petition and appeal to our comrades to extend the hand of international solidarity and sign it.

We can prevent this, but we need all the support we can get, so please circulate this message to as many other comrades as you can. Say ‘NO TO CORPORATE PLUNDERING OF OUR PLANET – NO TO NUCLEAR POWER!’

In comradeship

Our site : www.nianfors.nu/engvers.html
Our online Petition : http://www.nianfors.nu/engjustnu.html

Oxford community-run bar under threat from local cops

East Oxford Community Social Club is a social club run for and by its members, based in a local community centre for which it raises money. It’s unique not just for the way it’s run but also because of its diverse, inclusive and friendly atmosphere, cheap prices and availability as a community venue.

A personal account and call to action. Corrections and comments welcome!

THE BACKGROUND

A personal account and call to action. Corrections and comments welcome!

THE BACKGROUND

In February 2007, secret collusion between community centre bureacrats and unelected council officers came to light dramatically when it emerged that the Council were planning to shut the club down – at the request of the Community Association (which runs the centre)! Rather than talk to the Social Club committee about the problems they had with the club, they went behind everyone’s back to try and seal the fate of the club before support could be mobilised. They failed. A flurry of last minute activity – packed emergency meetings, letter writing campaigns to councillors, petitions etc – bought the club time to sort its act out and a last chance to stay open.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2007/02/363768.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2007/02/363408.html

With the threat of closure, the authorities clearly had the club over a barrel and proceeded to issue all manner of demands – everything from handing over financial control to installing CCTV on the building. The club gave in to almost every request and many a compromise was made.

A new committee took over, and through a huge amount of patience and hard work proceeded to rebuild the club; it became safer, more organised, was redecorated and gradually began paying off its debts.

THE CRISIS

Fast forward to the present day and changes in the attitude of the police may finally finish the club off for good, trampling all the work done over the years by countless volunteers. See, the club has also historically been a place where (shock! horror!) cannabis was smoked. The police had always turned a blind eye to this aspect of the club’s culture and there was an unofficial understanding that it was convenient for them to continue doing so. In any case the February crisis and the smoking ban ensured that people stopped skinning up in the bar, though of course those that want to can always smoke outside in the street.

A few months ago the policy changed dramatically; sniffer dogs patrolled bars and pubs all along Cowley Rd, and the club was raided repeatedly, with some arrests taking place. The police wanted to be seen as ‘tough’ on drugs and were willing to bully their way to that reputation.

Now they have threatened that unless the Social Club turn its alcohol licence over to a single named individual (whom they can then persecute individually as they choose) thus ceasing to be a members-run club, they will use their influence to ensure the entire community centre has its licence revoked.

The Community Association, led by Sarah Lasenby (who it seems has always wanted a more sanitised, middle-class-friendly bar) went along with this, and despite attempts at compromise and dialogue by the social club, gave us 28 days notice to leave. To be fair to the Community Association, they can reasonably claim to have been given little choice by the cops, at least if they want to hold onto the licence in some form or another – and it’s clear the centre would collapse without the ability to hold events.

But they *could* have done things differently. They could have worked with the club to try and find a solution instead of rejecting their attempts. They could have kicked up a fuss when first threatened by the cops, contacting local councillors, newspapers, and community centre users to point out what was happening. In the ensuing controversy, the cops might have been forced to back down. The way to stop a bully is to stand up to them and to shout loudly for others to help you, not to give in and hope they will go away. Sooner or later the same forces may come after the community centre as a whole, and they need to be confronted sooner rather than later.

But after February 2007 we are used to such breaches of solidarity from the Association, and we have to be clear that the main culprits are the cops.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

1) Come to the club’s AGM this Saturday (29th) at 6pm in the bar (East Oxford Community Centre, Cowley Rd). Doors close at 6.30, and everyone gets a free drink at the end about 7.45pm. We need everyone’s energy and ideas to talk about what we can do.

2) Contact your local councillors to let them know if in your opinion the Club is a safe and friendly place; whether it improved during 2007; and whether it would be better off run by the EOCSC committee or by a franchisee. Contact details are here:
https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/oxford-activism/2008-03/msg00014.html

You might want to ask them to get the police to clamp down on the big powerful venues that are the real source of Cowley Rd’s late night problems instead of bullying small community outfits.

3) Watch out for news of a special emergency Community Association meeting to hold those responsible accountable for their recent actions and try and reverse the decision.

4) You could also contact the social club: 01865 640059 enquiries@eocsc.co.uk to offer your practical support and join if you aren’t already a member.

5) Contact Sarah Lasenby to ask her to overturn the decision to kick out the social club, and to work with the social club to try and keep the club open:

sarahlasenby@breathemail.net
01865 725991

Sarah Lasenby
EOCA
Princes St
Oxford OX4 1HU

THE FUTURE

Ultimately we can only secure the long-term future of the social club and spaces like it by re-asserting community control over East Oxford itself. It’s *our* club, it’s *our* community and those are *our* streets. We should keep reminding ourselves of that! It’s all part of a wider struggle against capitalist gentrification of our spaces and culture, and they have to be fought every step of the way.

********
Another account of recent events that has circulated:

So as far as I understand,

Despite fulfilling ALL the criteria outlined in an ACTION PLAN last year by THE POLICE and THE COUNCIL….

at the TIME, ENERGY AND PERSONAL EXPENSE of the Social Club Commiteee membership and supporters who are all local VOTERS which included completely redecorating the whole space, bar and cellar and managing to clear all the debts left by the committee from years ago in ONE YEAR !…..

and DESPITE the fact that the Social Club is now running the BEST it has EVER been run…..

and DESPITE fact that there is a FULLY FUNCTIONING MEMBERSHIP WHICH many HUNDREDS OF LOCAL VOTERS Have subscribed to for 08/09…..

THE POLICE simply do not want this UNIQUE INDISPENSIBLE COMMUNITY RESOURCE which is run BY THE COMMUNITY FOR THE COMMUNITY to stay open…..

And that they have SUGGESTED to the Association (whic runs the building) the unless they abolish the social club, the POLICE will SUGGEST that the LICENCE for the ASSOCIATION will NOT be renewed either…….

AND as event s are the bread and butter life and soul of a community centre (By the People for the People) the Asssocialtion will go bust and the building will become another great white elephant like like so many others run by a Council appointed (ie unelected) manger (probably Sajid Malik from the Asian Community Centre) who will decide what is allowed to take place in the building from which the Council will recoup ALL the income….

(in this lovely rejuvenated building redecorated by unpaid labour…)

OR they will simply sell it off for more student housing aor another STARBUCKS as the property alone is worth millions – which means the end of FUSION and RAP and OX POTS THe OXFORD BEFRIENDING NETWORK and the CLAIMANTS UNION – and affordable use of the space by the local community.

Activists “Mung Bean” 4x4s

22 March 2008
Activists in Edinburgh claim responsibility for ‘disarming’ ten 4x4s over the last two months, stating that they are fighting climate change.

22 March 2008
Activists in Edinburgh claim responsibility for ‘disarming’ ten 4x4s over the last two months, stating that they are fighting climate change.
The saboteurs say they have targeted the 4x4s to raise awareness about these highly fuel inefficient vehicles and the disastrous effects they have upon our climate, and more generally about the relationship between wealth and climate change.

They are using mung beans to deflate the tyres of 4x4s by unscrewing the dust cap that protects the valve of the tire, placing a mung bean in the cap, and replacing the cap, which depresses the valve, deflating the tyre. Activists then place a letter explaining their actions on the windscreen.

The activists say that they plan to escalate their disarming of SUVs, saying “we hope these actions will increase in number, from a slight annoyance into a real obstacle, putting an end to this polluting vehicles popularity”.

They say that they are inspired by the Swedish group, the Indians of the Concrete Jungle, who have apparently provoked much anger from SUV owners.

Over a thousand 4x4s are reported to have been disarmed in Sweden, and three people have been caught by police.

See the website of the Indians of the Concrete Jungle for more information on the Swedish group:
asfaltsdjungelnsindianer.wordpress.com/in-english/

RAMpart2 is dead – long live rampART1

Following the granting of an Interim Possession Order on Thursday the 20th March, RAMpart2 was left empty by squatters after a final party…

The rampART has outlived it’s backup venue which was opened new years eve. The new building hosted just two parties, a handful of meetings and a climate camp direct action training gathering. Meanwhile, the rampART itself is still open four months after being served court papers for a repossession hearing.

ARTIVIST SQUATTERS TAKE 20,000 SQ FT MERCEDES SHOWROOM IN FINCHLEY RD, LONDON. THEME OF EVENT IS CLIMATE4CHANGE

OPENING 5TH APRIL 6PM
HARINGEY ARTS, CIRCLE COMMUNITY, 142 PROJECT, 291 GALLERY, URBAN NOMADS, CLIMATE4CHANGE AND MANY MORE PRESENTS

CLIMATE4CHANGE

COME, CREATE, AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE

ENVIRONMENTAL INSTALLATIONS, CINEMA, ART, PERFORMANCE, WORLD MUSIC, CIRCUS, CABARET AND PEOPLE
12 HUGE BAYS OF CAR SHOWROOM WITH MASSIVE WINDOWS FACING THE ROAD
EXHIBITION RUNS UNTIL END OF APRIL

OPENING 5TH APRIL 6PM
HARINGEY ARTS, CIRCLE COMMUNITY, 142 PROJECT, 291 GALLERY, URBAN NOMADS, CLIMATE4CHANGE AND MANY MORE PRESENTS

CLIMATE4CHANGE

COME, CREATE, AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE

ENVIRONMENTAL INSTALLATIONS, CINEMA, ART, PERFORMANCE, WORLD MUSIC, CIRCUS, CABARET AND PEOPLE
12 HUGE BAYS OF CAR SHOWROOM WITH MASSIVE WINDOWS FACING THE ROAD
EXHIBITION RUNS UNTIL END OF APRIL
OPENING APRIL 5TH 6PM. NO ENTRY AFTER MIDNIGHT

THE OLD MERCEDES SHOWROOM
OPPOSITE CAMDEN ARTS CENTRE
341 FINCHLEY ROAD NW3 6ET

07946 457908

Autonomous spaces weekend – pre-announced events (London, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Reading, Bristol)

ASS Benefit & More 11th -13th April

ASS benefit
Open access squatters-housing-land art – photography exhibition
Workshops & stalls
Cinema
Actions

ASS Benefit & More 11th -13th April

ASS benefit
Open access squatters-housing-land art – photography exhibition
Workshops & stalls
Cinema
Actions

Weekend long social centre/s event in London in occupied space/s to coincide with the Europe-wide days of action in defence of free spaces and for an anti-capitalist popular culture.

Various venues still to be confirmed, more info coming soon.

Advisory Service
housingmatters@hushmail.com
http://www.squatter.org.uk

——

MANCHESTER SPACE INVADERS LINE UP
Manchester Space Invaders are a collective of autonomous groups and individuals working together to reclaim our city…we are mobilizing to fight gentrification, ‘regeneration’ and all the borders that exist within the city. We call for all groups, individuals, networks and families to get involved and to join in our glorious celebration of autonomous spaces…

THURS 28TH MARCH
SPACE INVADERS MEETING 6pm
SQUAT FILM NITE 7pm
Films about squatting: securing a building, eviction, culture..
bring your own films!
Get involved in preparations for the days of action!
Popcorn, vegan cake and beer!
For location email manchesterspaceinvaders@yahoo.co.uk..

FRIDAY 11TH
SPACE INVADERS BAND NITE
The weekend will kick off from 5pm on Friday..come to the squat for food, music and help create the space…bring yer mates, art materials and enjoy the sounds of GNOD, CASH FOR YOUR STORIES, THE AUTONOMADS, SONIC BOOMSIX..and more!
Location TBC…call for more info

SATURDAY 12TH
I BIKE MCR BIKE ART PARADE
Dress yourself and your bike up for a bike art parade..Any theme for fancy dress for you and your bike is welcome..why not make it cosmic for some fun with the Space Invaders!?
Meet All Saints Park on Saturday 12th April at 2pm for a nice picnic in the park and to admire each others fancily decorated steeds and riders(bring some nice picnic food and drink)..also if you don’t get chance to bling your bike before you come, there will be opportunity and materials to do it there… then we shall ride around the city showing off how greatour blinged-up bikes look…..ending up at the Manchester Autonomous Spaces Squat where there will be food and entertainment and all sorts of exciting activity!!!
http://ibikemcr.org.uk

PARK FUN DAY…SAT 12TH
Cathedral Gardens, outside Urbis from 1pm to 6pm..
Bring your family and friends, picnics and crafts!
Folk bands, a soundsystem, magic tricks, street theatre and art session!
Transister madness with our mobile sound system…bring your portable radio!
Get creative and get involved before reclaiming the city with No Borders…

DEMONSTRATION IN DEFENCE OF AUTONOMOUS SPACES SAT 12TH
Saturday, April 12,a demonstration for FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT FOR ALL and IN DEFENCE OF AUTONOMOUS SPACES.Assemble at Urbis (next to Victoria Station), 5pm
Check http://www.april-12.blogspot.com/ for updates.
Across the country cities are being sold to the highest bidders. The drive for ‘regeneration’ is demolishing homes, marginalising communities, privatising public space and closing down vital community services. There has seldom been a time when fighting for autonomous spaces in Manchester has been more important.
The struggle for self-organisation and social autonomy brings migrants and squatters into inevitable confrontation with the existing social and political system. Self-organisation does not mean living outside of society. We want to live in it but according to our own rules. We want to emancipate ourselves from the capitalist processes that govern our city and our lives, without turning our backs to society.

INFO manchesterspaceinvaders@yahoo.co.uk
http://mcraz.wordpress.com
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/manchester/

SUBSCRIBE https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/manchesterspaceinvaders

CALL 07526256932 AFTER 6TH APRIL
………
MORE EVENTS TBC CLOSER TO THE TIME….if you could offer a workshop/equipment/skills/time….get in touch and join the invaders!

manchesterspaceinvaders@yahoo.co.uk
http://mcraz.wordpress.com/

——

the Audacious Space free cafe & info-shop

A Celebration of Free Spaces
Leeds City Centre, Friday 11th – Saturday 12th April 2008

Part of the international weekend of action in support of squats and autonomous spaces around the world (see www.april2008.squat.net for more info).

Across the world, communities are under threat as city “regeneration schemes” favour a glamorous , business-friendly environment over and above issues such as community,. social housing and diversity. Leeds is no exception as PFIs and similar privatised “regeneration” programmes threaten communities across the city.

We want to show that communities throughout our city are not prepared to lie down and accept this!

For this weekend we are planning a squatted space in Leeds City Centre, featuring:

– cafe
– focus on housing / squatting / gentrification
– free shop
– family friendly space: daytime cafe will be alcohol-free & drug-free space
– opportunity to link up with other communities threatened by the above issues

…but most importantly the space will be open for whatever you want it to be: an opportunity for films, displays, art, workshops… to get involved give us an email on leedssquat@googlemail.com or call 07526 261061.

The venue will be an easy walk from Leeds city centre / train station / bus station – for location please call 07526 261061 or email leedssquat@googlemail.com
——–

Action for squats and autonomous spaces in Nottingham

On Friday 11th and Saturday 12th of April, we are planning to answer the international call out for two days of demonstration, direct action, public information, street-party, squatting etc in defence of free spaces and for an anti-capitalist popular culture.

People from a number of cities across the UK have already announced that temporary autonomous spaces will open for the 11th and 12th of April 2008. A group of people will open a temporary autonomous space in Nottingham city centre. We want this (hopefully) vibrant and public space to be an exuberant response to news of a final closure of the ASBO.

By visibly taking a space in the city centre, we intend to raise awareness of squatting and so contribute to a future of squatting in Nottingham with more long-term squats elsewhere in the city.

One goal for this weekend of action will be to inspire and empower people who have previously been unfamiliar with squatting. By providing materials and information, workshops, squatters’ handbooks and by relaying our own experiences, we can enable people to house themselves without compromising with capitalism. In addition, we can utilise the autonomous environment created by squatting for other needs than housing. Discussing campaigns and sharing knowledge and skills we can support one another and be
empowered ourselves, as well as drawing in new people by creating a vibrant and exciting place to be. This can be in the form of food, workshops, films, art, talks – and absolutely anything you are motivated to provide.

Over the last few weeks of meetings we’ve made some basic logistical decisions. We welcome creative, energetic and/or enthusiastic people, and everyone else, to help us realise and then use the space. Every Tuesday at 7pm we will have open planning meetings to discuss and plan the weekend. These meetings will be held at the Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone Street, Forest Fields, Nottingham.

Alternatively, you can contact us at squatnottingham@hotmail.co.uk

——

Free Social Space weekend of events in Birmingham, April 11th to 13th 2008

As part of the Europe-wide call for decentralised action for squats and autonomous spaces (see http://april2008.squat.net/ ), there will be a temporary free space and weekend of workshops and events in Birmingham on the 11th to 13th of April.

CALL OUT: FREE SPACE BIRMINGHAM AND THE EUROPE-WIDE CALL OUT FOR SQUATTED SOCIAL SPACES.

Across Europe on the weekend of April 11th-13th, people will be taking over buildings and open spaces left abandoned by state or private concerns. For one weekend we will be united in a festival of resistance across Europe. (see http://april2008.squat.net/ )

Birmingham, UK will be responding to this call and invite you to join in. We’re a group of people who have formed an autonomous voluntary collective. We have no bosses to obey, no shareholders to feed and make decisions by consensus, all pulling our weight.

We have chosen to occupy an empty building in the city (close to Birmingham’s main rail stations and the city centre) for the weekend, hopefully to improve its neglected condition and open it up for the benefit of the city of which we are a part.

We hope you can join us for this event, and invite you to join our collective or form your own with similar aims.

Come and learn stuff, play games and enjoy the food and company – or come and facilitate a discussion, play a song, sing and dance.

EVENTS:

Workshops including: bike repair and maintenance, consensus decision making, action against climate change, disability rights and politics, 12volt electricity, LETS, permaculture, guerilla gardening, introduction to social centres, housing rights, DIY arts (jewellery making, paper mache, sculpture and making banners)and many more…

Demonstration against gentrification and for free space outside Birmingham City Council headquarters on Friday 11th (see next article)

Entertainment including an open mic night, film showings and live bands (TBC)

Free shop

Food by Birmingham Food Not Bombs

WHY SQUATTING?

There is a long tradition and history of squatting in the British Isles, dating from at least the 14th century, as people occupied land previously worked and occupied in common. The mania for enclosing land as private has always been resisted. The Diggers, levellers and others in the turbulent period of the 17th century occupied land for common use.

The practice of occupying buildings became popular amongst de-mobilised soldiers in the 20th century. Returning home from the Great and Second World wars, finding none of the promised ‘homes fit for heroes’, squatting empty buildings was a common method of growing viable homes in the cracks and empty matrices of post-war Britain.

More recently, squatting enjoyed a revival in the 1960s and 70s against the disastrous housing and architectural policies of the time. And in the last ten years there has been a revival of squatting to answer the need for social space as well as housing need. Today squatting acts as a bulwark against and alternative to gentrification – the growth of exclusive housing for the rich, pushing out the poor. This is what’s happening in Digbeth.

Squats are portals into other societies. Places where real alternatives can be grown and autonomous collective ways of organising and living found free of red tape, in places otherwise left empty and wasted.

There’s nothing ‘dirty’ about squatting. On the contrary, the practice cleans up after the waste and dis-ease produced by capitalistic authoritarianism, transforming wasted space into liberated space. Thus many people prefer the term ‘free space’ as an alternative to ‘squat’.

WHY SOCIAL CENTRES?

A viable social centre can be squatted (occupied), or facilitated through bureaucratic means such as renting or purchase. In recent years there has been a growth in social centres across Britain, from Manchester to Bristol, London to Leeds, Glasgow to Nottingham and in Birmingham too.

In creating a short term occupied social centre we hope to create a free space for the benefit of the city. The only real limit on what can happen in a social centre is the imagination. Since we respect the integrity of the building and don’t trash it (unlike its ‘owners’) we can as a collective open it for positive community projects. Social Centres can and have been used for: film screenings, healthy food and drink, libraries of books and information exchange (including free internet access), freeshops (the free exchange of goods) and all manner of creative/artistic projects,
and political organising around local and global issues.

In these times, when councils are closing and privatising public facilities hard won by our forebears, social centres are an invaluable part of society today, fulfilling an increasingly ignored need.

Free Space Collective
freespacebrum@riseup.net
http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/birmingham_social_centre

—

Details of what’s on in Brum:

The venue will be within a short walk of the Custard Factory and of Moor Street Station – email freespacebrum@riseup.net or phone 07527580190 for exact location details.

FRIDAY 11TH APRIL:

10.00am (approx): Venue opens

11am – 1.30pm (approx): Banner and prop making for demo (see below)

2pm: “Stop Selling Off Our City” demo outside Council House (see http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/birmingham/2008/04/395252.html )

5pm (approx): Return to temporary social centre

6pm: Talk on public sector privatisation and gentrification, followed by dinner courtesy of Birmingham Food Not Bombs

8pm onwards: Acoustic open mic night – all singers, poets, musicians and performance artists welcome…

SATURDAY 12TH APRIL:

11am – 1pm:
Workshop A: Introduction to Social Centres
Workshop B: Bike repair and maintenance (possibly ongoing for rest of Sat)
Workshop C: Jewellery making

1-2pm: Lunch

2-4pm:
Workshop A: Talk by Mexican activist on the Zapatista movement
Workshop B: Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS)
Workshop C: T-shirt printing

4-6pm:
Workshop A: Talk on the UK disability rights movement
Workshop B: 12Volt electricity
Workshop C: Art from recycled materials

6-7pm: Dinner by Birmingham Food Not Bombs

7-9pm:
Workshop A: Squatting and land rights
Workshop B: Palestine solidarity
Workshop C: Poi/fire spinning

9pm onwards: evening entertainment TBC

SUNDAY 13TH APRIL:

11am – 1pm:
Workshop A: Permaculture and Transition Towns
Workshop B: Rocket stoves (DIY wood burning stoves)
Workshop C: Face massage

1-2pm: Lunch

2-4pm:
Workshop A: Introduction to co-operatives (Radical Routes)
Workshop B: Climate change activism, including the Camp for Climate Action
Workshop C: Poetry

4-6pm:
Workshop A: Consensus decision making
Workshop B: Stencil art
Workshop C: Guerilla gardening

6-7pm: Dinner by Birmingham Food Not Bombs

7-9pm: “What Next?” The future of free social spaces in Birmingham – discussion, all welcome to participate and make suggestions!

All workshops subject to time change or cancellation depending on number of people interested.
——–

Autonomous Space Events in Reading! Common Ground to be Reopened!

As part of the global days of action for squats and autonomous spaces (see http://april2008.squat.net for two (maybe three!) events will take place in Reading, Berks.

FRIDAY 11TH APRIL:

* Free Cafe Event*

Reading Grassroots Action will hold a free cafe event in a privatised area of the riverside in the Town Centre. The action will aim to temporarily reclaim some space in the town centre, publicise further events and organisation and spread information on several linked up struggles from the autonomous spaces movements to the Zapatistas and from community gardens to Starbucks workers. Hopefully a film will be shown illustrating the global resistance against empire and good free food and Zapatista coffee will be given out.

SATURDAY 12TH APRIL:

* Common Ground Squatted Community Garden will be Re-Opened!*

Common Ground – a squatted community garden in Katesgrove area of Reading – was closed down by Reading Borough Council in October 07, following two previously unsucsessful eviction dates.

But on Sat 12th April, it will once again by opened to the public!

– Free Entry from 1pm!

– Free BBQ (trad & vegan options) from 3pm!

– Live Acoustic Music from 5pm!

Featuring:

* Neil Sutherland – Positive folk-punk in the vein of Billy Bragg.
* Clayton Blizzard – Acoustic hip hop – lyrical genius!
* Smoky Bastard – Irish style folk-punk in vein of Flogging Molly/Pogues/Dropkicks
* Kelly Kemp – Country style folk-punk from ex-vocalist of No Comply
* Naomi Hates Humans – Soulful folk-punk melodies
* Sam Russo – “Boss mad sounds!”

LOCATION:

Entrance is through the alleyway, next to ex-Womens Information Centre, Silver Street, Reading, RG2. It’s two mins from town centre, just up London Street from Global Cafe/Great Expectations.

Q: “But wont the cops stop us?!”

A: “Never fear, Plan B is here!”

If the miserable council and moody coppers stop us, we’ll go cheer them up…

… by moving the entire event outside their offices!

So, if you can’t find us at Common Ground, ring 07757280546 on the day for latest info!

Hope to see ya then!

P.S. We’ve even heard rumour of a free party in town that night, so keep yer ears to the dirty Reading ground……

katesgrovegarden(AT)yahoo.co.uk
http://www.rgacollective.org.uk

——–

Bristol: with the Broadmead Expansion and its spillover into St Pauls and Old Market that is displacing our local communities, the time is now to take matters into our own hands and reclaim our public spaces.

For more info call: 07528 953 230 / 07591 631 230

FRIDAY 11th
– daytime: Come help create the space
– evening: Film night from 7pm

SATURDAY 12th
– Carnival Parade starting from Albany Green St. Pauls at 11am.
– Art Exhibition open all day
– Cabaret/Open mic, live music

REPAIR NOT REDEVELOP

Yuppie flats are not part of a sustainable future and are pushing social housing out of the city centre. Resist the displacement of local people and join the parade!

Come One, Come All!
Take back our public space – If this motivates you spread the Word!

International Days of Action for Squats and Autonomous Public Spaces have been called for on the 11th and 12th of April 2008. http://april2008.squat.net:8080/. Diverse groups of enraged creatives from Prague to New Zealand will be taking things into their own hands: reclaiming spaces for art, housing, workshops, discussions, talks, films, food, swap-shops, music, performances & open mics to name but the bare essentials.

Whilst their motives are locally specific, these autonomous actions are drawn together internationally by common threads: indignation at the impending grip that corporate expansion has on our cities; diminishing social housing; ‘streamlined’ rents; the homogenisation of the high street with corporate chains; the segregation of cities along the lines of wealth and power…

Here in Bristol we will be reclaiming a private space and breathing life back into it momentarily for a public weekend of celebration. As a rupture with the march of high speed commercial existence, we will show films, parade through the streets, open space for art and workshops, cook and eat food, listen to music and live a little. Whether you’re a lock breaking specialist, poet, painter or film-maker and would like to get involved – or if you just want to come have a look at what can be done with love and shoestring – come along!

The carnival procession will make its way through Bristol on Saturday 12th. We will assemble at Albany Green, St Pauls at 11am for the start of the parade – bring friends and family, whistles and horns, pedal power and music. By taking back our streets we’ll show our communities are fed up with the odious creeping hand of shiny redevelopment. And in preparation: come create costumes, banners and carnival trimmings at workshops in the space the day before, Friday 11th.

This open invitation is a call out to communities and individuals of all skills and interests that can help make these days as visible as possible- take action in OUR city! Come join to raise awareness that there is an alternative, and resist the aggressive private expansion into our public spaces.

http://april2008.squat.net/index.php/category/english/lang-pref/en

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More Bristol details: Save Stokes Croft

Saturday 12th April: Protest Against Gentrification of Central Bristol

11.00am Albany Green, St. Pauls and 2.00pm Broadmead (Centre)

Bristol is undergoing massive attacks on our free spaces and culture by property developers and their friends in the City Council. Across the city green spaces, pubs, clubs and amenities are being closed and sold off with little consultation with the communities affected.

So if you oppose the…

* Threat of closure of the clubs and pubs on Stokes Croft (Clockwork, Lakota, Blue Mountain, Junction)
* The threatened sell off of Castle Park to the developers
* The loss of playing fields and green spaces city-wide
* The ‘private streets’ of Cabot Circus
* The dispersion orders on College Green
* The removal of the Bristol-Bath cycle path
* The loss of pubs and meeting spaces in our communities

On Saturday 12th April there will be street protests against the gentrification of Central Bristol. There will be two meeting points:

11.00am Albany Green, St. Pauls: Join the ‘Bristol Space Invasion’ Carnival Parade as part of a europe wide weekend of action against the privatisation of public space

Joining with…

2.00am Broadmead (Centre): ‘Save Stokes Croft from Gentrification’ party parade going to College Green

After the parades come along to Bristol Space Invasion Autonomous Zone featuring Art, performance, cinema, open-mic and live music – ALL FOR FREE! – Call 07528 953 230 or 07591 631 230 on the day for details of precise location.

Please show your opposition to the destruction of our places, spaces and culture, before its too late.

See you there….

Save Stokes Croft and Bristol Space Invasion

1st April – Manchester Fossil Fools Parade! / London Protest circus for a coal Fossil Fool / Notts / Leamington Spa

We’ve all been fossil fooled and now…the Climate Circus is coming to Manchester….
Join the Fossil Fools Parade on April 1st
and take part in fun and games with some of our best known local Fossil Fools!

That’s right this event is all about congratulating our sponsors

That’s right this event is all about congratulating our sponsors
RBS, Manchester Flight Centres, Petrol Stations, The City Council and other
experts in pollution, climate change and destruction of our global
eco systems.

The Parade will meet at 10.30am outside AMC cinema in Deansgate and
finish with a street party outside the Town Hall (by 12 pm).

Featuring music, madness and vegan cakes – lets make this a holiday at
home and encourage people to leave fossil fuels in the past.

Dress in suits, as clowns, come as a fossil fuel or a fossil fool but
come!!

Please circulate this invite widely!

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Protest circus for a coal Fossil Fool (BERR, 1 Victoria Street, London, 8 am on 1 April 2008)

(please post far and wide)

1st April is set to pack a punch this year. Across the world April Fool’s Day is being marked by climate change activists as Fossil Fool’s Day, a day of action against the climate wrecking fossil fuel industry.

For those not able to take the many direct actions of the day, the London World Development Movement groups are co-ordinating a hilarious protest outside the Department for Enterprise Business and Regulatory Reform (or BERR) to laugh at the minister for business, John Hutton. John Hutton is currently set to make a right fool of the government’s climate policy if he signs off on EON’s new Kingsnorth power station.

Everyone’s welcome to join in the collective hilarity and to demand Hutton takes the Kingsnorth decision very seriously. There will be a real circus feel, with jugglers, clowns and acrobats, so don’t hesitate to bring juggling balls or wear your squeaky nose or silly hat.

Protest starts at 8am and will be over in time for you to be at work. Contact Rachel on 0207 8204900 for more information.

More information on the Kingsnorth campaign, see www.stopkingsnorth.org

More information on Fossil Fool’s day, see www.fossilfoolsday.org

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Funeral for coal in Parliament square, London
Meet at 11 AM in Parliament Square

The People & Planet network invites you to join us at an action and
mass lobby. We will be building a coal power station complete with 12ft cooling towers in Westminster, while people dressed in Jesters hats and Gordon Brown masks will ‘burn’ a mock Climate Change Bill.

Contact james.lloyd@peopleandplanet.org for more information.
http://peopleandplanet.org/nonewcoal

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Public Apology on behalf of Porsche, London
Meet 7.15 AM, Bond Street tube station

Posing as protesting polar bears and penguins, greenwash window cleaners and concerned customers, help Porsche say sorry:
• “For being so pigheaded in pushing for a judicial review of the recent changes in the congestion charge. A bit rash we know! Sorry. But now that we think about it, the change does actually seem quite a good idea.”
• “And ok, you’ve got us, with a few of our mates, we have been doing our best to railroad EU plans to set binding emissions targets for gas guzzlers by 2012. Can’t blame us for having a go though can you…ok so you can. But look, we know it’s wrong”.
• “Oh, and last, but by no means least, we should stop claiming we’re ‘green’ while making incredibly polluting cars. So we’re pleased to announce a new concept model, taking the 4×4 into the 2×2 age.”

More info: e-mail thomas_fern@hotmail.com or call Richard on 0796 046 5594

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Roll up, roll up! The climate circus is in town. Confronted with melting ice caps, unprecedented species extinction, droughts and extreme weather, climate change threatens our very survival. The fools at the head of the fossil fuel empire continue to plunder the earth, with the governments as willing court jesters at their side.

They would have us believe that we can escape climate change with techno-fixes, market mechanisms and offset schemes – all technocratic acrobatics that distract us from the truth: the only real solution to climate change is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

On April 1st, 2008, we’re going to turn the tables and show them who the real fools are.

Nationally people will be targeting fossil fools – See the clowns investing in coal – The carbon offset contortionist or the oily strong man? joining with thousands around the world in taking one step closer to dismantling the fossil fuel industry.

In Nottingham we are going to take action on a local Fossil Fool. We are meeting at Market Square Tram Stop at 8am to head off together on a magical mystery tour to a climate clown near us.

Dress 4 Climate Chaos: Ski Hat, Bermuda Shorts and Wellies; Sombrero and Raincoat; Swimsuits and Woolens; Flipflops, Umbrellas and Sunglasses; whatever you think the weather may do today. Bring banners and placards against climate chaos and lets pull a prank that packs a punch

info@eastsideclimateaction.org.uk
http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org

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Rising Tide “Fossil Fools Day” “Fun Demo” Leamington Spa

On April 1st, 2008, we’re going to turn the tables and show them who the real fools are.

JOIN US IN LEAMINGTON SPA TO PROTEST AGAINST THE PROPOSED CLARENDON SHOPPING ARCADE…DO WE NEED MORE SHOPS? CONSUMERISM CAUSES CLIMATE CHAOS! Make the connection between OIL and RETAIL THERAPY – come in fancy dress, bring music, bikes, a sense of humour, children WELCOME.

Assemble BATH PLACE COMMUNITY VENTURE, @ BATH PLACE, LEAMINGTON http://www.bathplace.org 12.00 for a 12.30 march around Leamington. Finishing at the TOWN HALL.

Please call 07782 299181 for any further information.

RATH LUGH UPDATE – updated

THURS MORNING 20th MARCH
Bulldozer ploughing into Esker. Garda Riot Van with shields on window at Lismullin and cement mixer on road from Lismullin approach. Protectors have not reacted yet.

Situation tense. Supporters needed. Bring phone credit, camera and video equipment etc. Standby.

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THURS MORNING 20th MARCH
Bulldozer ploughing into Esker. Garda Riot Van with shields on window at Lismullin and cement mixer on road from Lismullin approach. Protectors have not reacted yet.

Situation tense. Supporters needed. Bring phone credit, camera and video equipment etc. Standby.

—

There are 50 security at rath lugh, and security walking through the camps in the woods preparing for the eviction, we need more people urgently!!!!
Please bring, poly prop, for walk ways in the trees, batteries,video equipment, cameras., warm blankets and food, any support would be gratefully recieved thanks

—

Massive presence of Security and Workers estimated now at 100.
3 Riot Vans in the vicinity.
2 Diggers working on the Esker.
2 Ferrovial taking photographs of tents and benders.
Journalist talking to Squeek.

Help needed urgently.

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FRI 21ST MARCH

8.30am – at least 8 diggers
6 Gardaí and about 40 Construction Workers bringing in topsoil and earth at Rath Lugh.
They are not working on shoring up the esker but on actual construction.
Over 40 Security are lining BOTH sides of the route at RL.

…

NRA contractors cut into Rath Lugh Monument near Tara

The mound upon which ancient Rath Lugh rests is now being sliced for the M3 Motorway.

Good Friday Newsflash from the Tara Foundation:

The mound upon which ancient Rath Lugh rests is now being sliced for the M3 Motorway.

The National Roads Authority has stated work is advancing on the M3 motorway in the area close to Rath Lugh where protestors have set up camp. Up to fifty Gardaí are said to be at the scene.

The NRA says it is putting in place what is known as a ‘box cut’, which outlines the road’s route. It is also building a quib wall and security fencing. It says the steps are being taken for health and safety reasons, and with the advice and consent of the Gardaí.

The NRA alleges that workers at Rath Lugh are being intimidated by protestors, and that a civil understanding reached with Lisa Feeney allowing for the fencing to be put in place has not been honoured. Previously the NRA had claimed that no agreement was reached with the tunnel protestor.

Protesters say Ms Feeney only agreed to come out of the tunnel on the night of 15th March 2008, after a deal was struck on with the National Roads Authority to halt work at the monument for a month.
On 17th March, St. Patrick’s Day, Lisa Feeney stated that she had a “whale of time” underground and was pleased to have won a month-long moratorium on work at the site.

Work will not begin at Rath Lugh until April 17th, Lisa Feeney stated, giving M3 opponents enough time to mount further legal challenges to this contentious section of the road, which they say is too close to important heritage sites.
“There is a Supreme Court challenge in three weeks, so that will give us enough time to prepare for that”, said Ms. Feeney.

Minister for the Environment and Green Party member John Gormley visited the Rath Lugh monument on March 20th, where he discussed preservation issues around the site with the Department’s archaeologists. Minister Gormley did not visit the M3 site or speak with protestors. A spokesman for the Department said that the Minister is satisfied that measures being proposed by the NRA will protect the national momument at Rath Lugh.

On March 1st, Poet and Nobel laureate Séamus Heaney described the M3 motorway as a ruthless desecration of the sacred landscape around the Hill of Tara.
Dr Jonathan Foyle, British chief executive of the World Monuments Fund, which placed Tara on its endangered sites list last year, likened the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara to the destruction by Afghanistan’s Taliban regime in 2001 of the Bamiyan Buddhas.

Scrap the M3 Motorway, which will increase Carbon Emissions. Support a comprehensive railway system for Dublin and Meath!!!

Emergency call-out: Protests are ongoing on Rath Lugh and Soldiers Hill near Tara. As many people as possible are needed for the protests:
Protest Every Day at Soldiers Hill – but especially every Friday at 3pm

Directions to the Rath Lugh Camp:

By Car: Take the N3 from Dublin. Tara is halfway between Dunshaughlin and Navan. At Ross Cross, there is a pub on the left called “Tara na Ri”, a yellow building with flat roof. Turn right here towards Skryne and Duleek. Go straight, and take the first right towards Skryne. This is a very windy road, and woodlands will be on the right hand side. Go straight through the crossoroads. Rath Lugh camp is on the right, on the sharp bend on the road. The entrance is a gap in the woods, usually with a few cars parked on the side of the road.

By Bus: Daily buses from Busáras, Dublin City Centre. Take the N3 towards Navan. Ask to get off at the Tara Na Ri Pub and follow directions above.
For further information: 0035386 1537146

Directions for the Tara Camp:

By Car: Take the N3 and then turn left at the Tara signpost

By Bus: Take either the Navan, Kells or Cavan bus, departing Busáras. Ask to get off after Tara Cross at the Lismullen bus stop and it is a short walk from there.

The vigil camp is located near the car-park at the Hill of Tara, about 200 metres on the right and a little in from the road. There are sign posts from the car-park.
For further information: 0035386 175 8557

To ring from NI or UK- replace first zero with 00353

5 years of war! Stop the Nanotech and Biotech War Profiteers!

Click here to join the action, join us on March 19th, 2008.

This Nano-Virtual-Sit-In is being performed on the 5th anniversary of the war on Iraq. We have chosen biotech and nanotech corporations and organizations as our targets, because their science is driven by the war and drives the war.

http://bang.calit2.net/5yearsofwar/

Click here to join the action, join us on March 19th, 2008.

http://bang.calit2.net/5yearsofwar/

Report back from Anti Shell actions in London – Gluaiseacht, RoR, anonymous

Gluaiseacht members along with Shell to Sea campaigners, friends and British supporters took part in 3 different actions over the weekend of St Patrick in London. Here is a summary of their story!

Gluaiseacht members along with Shell to Sea campaigners, friends and British supporters took part in 3 different actions over the weekend of St Patrick in London. Here is a summary of their story!
..
Having started at Ennis in County Clare at 11am on Friday the 14th picking up people along the way a full coach load of bewildered people arrived on Rampart street home of the The Rampart Social Center. It is soon to be evicted so we felt lucky to be there.

Having found a place to set up our various air beds and sleeping mats some put the head down for a few hours kip while most went out and about looking to do some site seeing, watch the rugby or catch up with friends or relations in London town.

The rest of the Day was made up of cooking food the masses and having planning meetings for the weekends actions.

THE ACTIONS

Having assembled at the given point on Sunday morning for our part in the Parade it was decided to keep our banners folded for the first few minutes until the parade got underway as he had received warning that organisers weren’t happy with protesters in their parade and may ask police to confiscate political banners.

After about 5 mins of walking we unveiled the banners and began singing songs and passing out leaflets to the crowds. We were well received for the most part and the songs streaming out from our many megaphones seemed to lift the crowd on what was a wet and cold london day.

Just as the parade was near its end police did indeed try to take out banners but we were too fast for them. The were quoting the new SOCPA laws which prevent any protest at all within a mile of any point around Westminster Parliament building.

We had heard that Enda kenny and John Gormley were to make speeches at Ken Livingston’s St Patrick’s party in Trafalgar square later so we headed on up there. As we arrived Mr Gormley was making his speech. We were unable to get near to the stage so instead unveiled ours pipeline and banners at the top end of the square and some members of our group spoke on the mega phone to the assembled crowd about why they were there.

Wet but satisfied we made our way back home to the Rampart.

The SHELL HQ

The following morning we headed over to Waterloo home of Shell in London. The pipe was unwrapped again and presented at the Door of Shell by representatives of the different sections within our group. John from Mayo protesting the coercion of the local community, Bro Anthony from Limerick protesting the Robbery Irish natural resources and Laura from Italy protesting Shells record of crimes and against humanity and the environment world wide. Despite calls for a representative to receive the pipe om Shells behalf none were forthcoming. Then the party started and musicians and mobile sound system cranked out the tunes and the crowd danced Irish jigs outside the building. This helped to keep us warm and our spirits up.

Watch RTE footage here http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0317/corrib.html

The SHELL INVESTORS MEETING

This meeting was one for Shell to sell themselves to potential investors. We decided to remind these investors that it would be unwise to receive stolen property or to become accessories to worldwide human and environmental degradation. With this in mind we went off to The London Tower bridge hotel where the meeting was to take place. The group repeated the earlier performance of music and dancing while parading the pipeline out side the hotel and around the assembled police. Having found the conference room where the meeting was taking place members of the group advised any potential investors of the record of shell worldwide and asked police to arrest those inside for there murderous activities.

With that we all piled onto the bus again to head for home exhausted but exhilarated at the same time.

http://www.gluaiseacht.ie
http://www.corribsos.com/
http://www.mayogasinfo.com/faq.html

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old street shell garage evening of 17th march

Members of Rhythms of Resistance Samba band visited Shell’s old street petrol station around 8pm on the evening of 17th March to spread information about the pipeline to passers by and drivers visiting the petrol station.
We decided not to actually block the entrance/exit but instead to play on the forecourt (lovely accoustics!).
On arrival we noticed a tanker on the forecourt filling up the pumps. As he atemped to leave we decided to sand in front of his lorry and stop him leaving, and gave him a flyer explaining why we were present.
Several times the irate driver moved his vehicle forward attaempting to squash/scare those people standing in front of the lorry.
Eventually when he failed in running us over he decided to make a phone call instead,(we presumed to the police), and at this point we moved away from in front of the lorry but he just continued to sit there.
At this point we decided to leave before the police arrived and return once he had left and the police had been and gone.

On our return some 20 minuites later we again went onto the forecourt and commenced drumming, but this time two police appeared within some minuites.
We were asked to move to the pavement and complied, all the time drumming.
Soon the police returned from their car again and asked us if we’d promise to not go back onto the forecourt so they could leave and deal with 5 robberies!?
We said yes, of course.
So they left.
We continued for a while longer, witnessing a ‘biodiesel’ taxi enter the forecourt and fill up with regular diesel.
On talking to the driver he told me ‘you gotta put diesel in it and there’s nowhere to buy biodiesel’ and when i said ‘so the fact it says on the side “run on biodiesel” is a lie then?’ he replied “yes’.

Shell Sells Suicide
Some words:

there’s a bird dressed in black
there’s a world nearly cracked
there is me, there is you
what the hell shall we do?

it’s not hard to explain
all the ways we can gain
from a world without oil
no more spills, no more spoils

Shell smells sweet gas off the seashore in Mayo
they think it’s theirs just ‘cos the government says so
but they forgot about the will of the people
and the people of Mayo say ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no –
it’s Shell that’s got to go!’

Shell sells suicide on the forecourt
Shell sells suicide
Shell sells suicide with such forethought
or
Shell smells sweet gas over in Rossport
or
Shell smells sweet oil in Port Harcourt
Shells sells ecocide

Shell buys South Bank silence completely
Shell sells wild lies
Shell kills wildlife and still smiles so sweetly
Shell kills wildlife (and somewhere the future quietly dies…or is reborn?)

here’s a bird dressed in black
there’s a world nearly cracked
there is me, there is you
what the hell shall we do?
– can we start anew?
– say farewell to Shell
– say no to oil etc.

—

From an anonymous tipoff call very early in the morning two Shell service stations were found to have been D-locked and shut down for several hours on the morning of Monday 17 March 2008.

To coincide with the Shell Day of Action and visiting members of the Shell To Sea campaign from County Mayo, Ireland, although no connection apart from solidarity, some activists took it upon themselves to shut down two of Shell’s garages.

The service stations remained closed for several hours as frustrated staff used hack saws to remove the D-locks clamped around petrol pumps.

The Day of Action also saw Irish protestors deliver 20 metre pipeline to Shell HQ on Southbank London, and gave a lively protest.

Shell recently declared record profits for the second year running, the second time the corporation has broken all UK records for profit made by a British company, this year declaring £13.9 billion.

But the damage from this company continues to span the globe from County Mayo in Ireland, where the unfinished gas refinery construction has polluted the local water supply with high levels of aluminium, to the continuing ecological destruction of the Niger Delta, where death and disease from pollution and pipeline accidents has become a weekly occurance.