Category: South West England

South West England

Day of Action against Extraction, April 19/April 20 – 2011

Communities around the world are under attack from extractive industries that poison our families, kill our loved ones on the job, and destroy the ecosystems we cherish. The BP oil spill was unfortunately just one of an endless string of disasters born of an economic system that must endlessly consume the Earth’s resources.

Communities around the world are under attack from extractive industries that poison our families, kill our loved ones on the job, and destroy the ecosystems we cherish. The BP oil spill was unfortunately just one of an endless string of disasters born of an economic system that must endlessly consume the Earth’s resources.

Extraction is the act of taking without giving anything back. Extraction takes workers lives so corporations can make a few more bucks.
Extraction takes clean water and air and gives us blackened oceans and a climate in chaos. Extraction takes the natural wealth of communities and ecosystems and leaves behind poverty and ecological wastelands.

For a stable climate, clean air and water, we must stop the extraction of fossil fuels and other “resources.” From the tar sands of Alberta to the Gulf Coast, people are fighting back against the extractive industries that have declared war on our planet. Rising Tide is calling for a day of direct action against extraction on the 1 year anniversary of the BP oil spill. On April 20th take it to the point of production.
Shut down a well site, occupy a mine, take over an office, blockade a bank. Nobody’s community should be a sacrifice zone. For climate justice and a liveable planet.

Rising Tide (North America)

Successful Hinkley Demo

September 13, 2010
Protestors blocked the Hinkley Point main gates for almost an hour this liunch-time as they demonstrated against the premature destruction of upto 435 acres of open land and wildlife habitats before major consents are approved for the two giant reactors proposed by EdF.

September 13, 2010
Protestors blocked the Hinkley Point main gates for almost an hour this liunch-time as they demonstrated against the premature destruction of upto 435 acres of open land and wildlife habitats before major consents are approved for the two giant reactors proposed by EdF.

A large group of campaigners, together with local residents including children, held banners and placards in front of Hinkley Point, preventing any traffic movements. The Hinkley main gates were forced to shut from 11.45 to 12.45pm and no traffic entered or left during that time. Some of the protestors wore face paint images of sunflowers, the Stop Hinkley logo and anti-nuclear signs. Others dressed as nuclear ‘boffins’ and with a loudhailer led a march through the ear-marked greenfield site.

The ‘nuclear boffins’ highlighted badger setts which had been cemented over or had been covered with metal grills, beautiful old woodlands and individual trees destined to be bulldozed and they walked down some of the scores of sunken lanes criss-crossing the fields lined by ancient hedgerows brimming with wildlife.

At the coast the tour-guides showed where the so-called ‘temporary’ jetty will be built over the 200 million year old fossil-filled rocky beach.

At the beach destination of the march, one campaigner read aloud a poem on the need to respect nature and its part in global ecology.

Crispin Aubrey, spokesman for Stop Hinkley who marshalled the demonstration, said: “There is obvious strong feeling against destroying this beautiful area. Despite being close to the existing power stations there are large expanses of beauty and tranquility. It’s wrong for EdF to jump the gun by trashing the area such a long time before it receives major consents for the two reactors.”

The protest was part of a two day Action Weekend. Yesterday a series of talks and workshops took place in Bridgwater for campaigners around the region. Three national-level speakers gave talks:

Greenpeace

Ben Ayliffe, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace said: “Greenpeace is opposed to new nuclear power stations because they would make a minimal contribution towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they have multiple dangers from long-lived radioactive waste through to nuclear proliferation, and they are a distraction from real solutions such as renewable energy.”

“In particular we see two major problems – waste disposal and economics – both could sink the proposal for Hinkley C,” he said.

“The coalition government has said that there will be no subsidies for new nuclear plant. Economics could be the thing that makes it impossible for Hinkley C to go ahead. No nuclear power station has ever been built without public subsidy.”

On waste he said that the amount EDF were being asked to pay for disposing of the radioactive legacy from Hinkley C was not enough to cover the true cost. “It amounts to a £1 billion subsidy to the company per year, according to our calculations,” he said.

He also referred to delays and cost over-runs on similar projects in both Finland and France, where the first reactors like the one proposed for Hinkley C are being built.

The Greenpeace strategy was to challenge the process of approving new nuclear power stations all the way. This included exposing the risky economics, promoting the alternatives and legal challenges.

Health

Professor Chris Busby talked about studies that he, and Somerset Health authority in the eighties, had shown that there was a higher incidence of cancers round Hinkley Point and other nuclear power stations. He said the international model used by regulators to estimate the effects of radiation on human health is being widely challenged, and a former head of the international radiation commission accepted that their model did not stand up in the case of a serious accident.

“Our studies have shown raised levels of cancer along the downwind coast from Hinkley to Burnham-on-Sea. Health officials have objected to our findings on spurious grounds including random clusters in other areas but year on year we keep finding an entrenched problem near Hinkley. The officials have got it wrong.”

Alternatives

Neil Crumpton, former Friends of the Earth energy campaigner, presented an alternative vision of the UK’s electricity supply in which nuclear power was marginalised and new sources of renewable energy, such as concentrated solar power imported from North Africa, were developed on a large scale. He also dismissed the suggestion that the lights would go out without nuclear, listing the many other options, including gas-fired plants, which were queueing up to fill any gap in supply.

“Friends of the Earth and other organisations are confident we can put forward a reasonable low carbon energy network based on current technology. More than that we can very soon tap resources like Clean Coal Technology and solar-power from the Sahara to boost our own abundant natural elements of wind, tide and wave driven electricity.”

Jim Duffy

Stop Hinkley Coordinator

www.stophinkley.org

07798 666756

Quotes from Crispin Aubrey who coordinated the Action weekend: 01278 732921 / 07920 523673

Professional photographs for the media available immediately from

Simon Chapman: 07889 747916

http://www.stophinkley.org

Bath Bomb #33 Out Now!

THE BATH BOMB

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

“More rusty barbed wire than cutting edge”

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The First Cut Is The Deepest

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

THE BATH BOMB

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

“More rusty barbed wire than cutting edge”

*

The First Cut Is The Deepest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Tory Scum, Out Of Brum!

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

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Get Shorty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Fash In The Pan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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UPCOMING EVENTS

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Recycle Your Sundays, Sundays, 10.30am, starts Abbey Churchyard, the regular series of sociable, easy-paced cycle rides, http://www.bathrys.org.uk/ tel Hazel 01225 469199

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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‘Fatcat Bosses Get The Cream’ Shocker!

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

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

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Grub Street Meeja

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

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

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

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

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

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

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If I Had A Hammer…

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

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

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

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

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

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Cycle-logy 101

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

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

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Toys Tory

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

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

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The Filth And The Furry

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

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

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

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

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First Class News!

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

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

Crude Awakening info update

12 Sept 2010

THE CRUDE AWAKENING MASS OUTREACH EMAIL

A mass action to switch off oil

Saturday, 16 October 2010, Central London

12 Sept 2010

THE CRUDE AWAKENING MASS OUTREACH EMAIL

A mass action to switch off oil

Saturday, 16 October 2010, Central London

Have you been thinking it’s about time a whole load of people got together to take mass action against oil in central London? We thought so. And so it followed that the Crude Awakening was launched. The mobilization is now in full swing and everyone is invited to help publicize and prepare. There is loads to do….please have a read through this email and get involved!

The email is in three parts:

Upcoming events and how to get involved
Frequently asked questions
The call out – please copy and paste and help this get all over the Internet!

1. How to get involved and build up events you are all invited to.

Events already planned are listed bellow:

In London……

17th September, networking meeting at 6pm just inside the entrance to the Brunei Gallery at SOAS, a meeting for people interested in helping to do outreach in the London area the Climate Camp outreach group are meeting.

There is going to be a London coordinating and planning meeting for the Crude Awakening very soon, and the details will be announced shortly.

Thursday 23rd September at 7.30pm, Climate Action Film Night, London Action Resource Centre, Whitechapel (for address see www.londonarc.org)

An evening of films and discussion about climate activism and the oil industry, hosted by London Rising Tide.

A screening of two short films of recent actions against BP and Shell by Rising Tide and friends, plus Petropolis, a visually stunning and disturbing documentary about the Canadian Tar Sands. Followed by a brainstorming session on taking direct action against the oil industry in London – including all the latest info on the Crude Awakening, an oily mass action happening on Saturday 16th October. For anyone who believes in climate justice and wants to help make it happen; anyone hacked off with the greed and irresponsibility of oil giants like BP; anyone back from the Climate Camp and looking to get involved locally… everyone welcome….and there’ll be cake!

The Crude Awakening London Rabble Rouser – a mass outdoor team game, warming us up for the big day– date, place and time to be announced.

Saturday 2nd October. MOLASAPULTPARTY FUNDRAISER …. Venue TBC, more details to follow shortly

Saturday the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd October Stilt making workshop for the stilt block on the mass action!….
This time we’re thinking big, we’re thinking high, we’re thinking tall…. and we’re going as a Stilt Bloc.

Yep, thats right! On stilts!

So in order for this to happen we’re having a skill share weekend in London to build stilts and learn how to walk on them. The weekend is Sat 2nd and Sun 3rd October, 10am to 6pm.

And even if you don’t want to be up high, each stilt walker will need a buddy staying on the ground so there’s a place for everyone, young and old, big or small, high or low…… we need you at this weekend too!!!

Its all free and lunch is included….

We need RSVPs so we know numbers. Email: stilt.bloc@gmail.com

Oh and its MEXICAN DAY OF THE DEAD theme…..

In Manchester….

Sat 9th Oct – Mass Action training

Tue 12th Oct – Publicly announced rouser for CJA international day of action

Crude Awakening mobilisation

We hope that there will be loads more to follow but this is what is lined up so far. If you are planning a build up event let us know so we can advertise it please.

There is a huge amount to do to mobilize quickly for an event this big. Maybe you could organise a film showing or talk (we can probably send a speaker if you email us). You could put on an affinity group or action training workshop, or host a fundraiser. You could book a coach and fill it. You could run a workshop so people can build practical stuff , for example a load of disposable bikes to bring along (email us to let us know if you do make lots of useful stuff). You could have a stall and hand out flyers at your freshers fair (again email for materials). You could make a stencil and graffiti advertise for it all across your city/ region. Unless everyone gets involved there is a real danger we won’t get the numbers we need.
The Crude Awakening is now on crabgrass! Join it, join a working group and lets get planning! https://we.riseup.net/thecrudeawakening (crabgrass is a little bit like facebook for activists and is a way of organising on line). And sign up for more information by email and text alerts on the website. www.crudeawakening.org.uk. Our facebook page is a little slow to get off the ground but it will soon be buzzing.

Please also raise The Crude Awakening as an agenda point at the next organising meeting at your Social Centre/ Friends of the Earth Group/ Union/ Climate Camp neighbourhood/ Housing Coop etc. Get people talking and excited and committed to the idea that they are going! If you are not already in a group or affinity group you are of course still totally welcome. You will probably want to make contact with some like minded folk to talk things through and make some plans before the big day. For example you could go to climatecamp.org.uk or risingtide.org.uk and find your local active group, or email us and we can try to signpost you on. At the least try to get a couple of mates to come with you, so that you have some support as a group of friends (known by activists as an affinity group).

2. Frequently asked questions

Q. Neither the website nor the flyer gives much info. What is going on?

A. As you have probably twigged there is also a deliberate sense of mystery around the action. So often with recent mass actions we have said exactly where we are going to go, and the police have had as much time to prepare as us, making things much more difficult for people who want to be involved in mass and effective direct action . With this project we are experimenting a little bit. The 10 targets are left unspecified, giving the action more chance of being successful. But at the same time we can openly advertise that we all need to be in Central London so we can get loads of people together at the same place at the same time for the mass action. And those people need to be ready to take action and to have fun. This is not a march and it’s not a camp. This is an action that needs preparation and we can all be involved in most of that preparation….although the targets will be a surprise until much later.

We can’t be sure that this mix of secret and public planning will work, but we can give it a go, have some fun and maybe make some progress…..but maybe, just maybe we have got it totally nailed and this will be the best mass action in London ever! If you don’t show up there it will be difficult for you to know. Our advice is don’t miss it 😉

Q. So what do I need to do to prepare?

A. People need to be ready to move, and to stand their ground. Don’t bring with you anything that you can’t easily walk with or get on a tube with. But do bring with you stuff that will help you and your affinity group hold a space in what ever way you feel you want to. Whether you want to bring armtubes, disposable bikes or a huge slow moving metal and wooden tower with a papier-mâché rhino head (that can fit on and off a tube!?); diversity of tactics and affinity group planning are key to this working. People can also prepare stuff to make this action look beautiful; puppets, masks, banners, a portable molasses fondue……you get the idea.

Q. Why Oil?

A. For a whole host of reasons. Here are just a few…..
Because oil companies search for new oil reserves to make themselves richer while our climate spins into crisis.
Because the UK government starts wars for oil.
Because of human rights abuses and murder in West Africa.
Because of the Deepwater Horizon spill.
Because of the destruction of wilderness in the Arctic and the coast of Rosport in Ireland.
Because of UK public money being used by bailed out banks to fund new oil projects.
Because London is brimming with oil money, oil sponsorship and oil companies.
Because global energy resources are the peoples commons.
Because oil companies and the filthy rich people who profit from them have no place in a sustainable future.
Because Copenhagen failed and now it’s down to us.
Because oil has had it’s day and it’s time we pulled the plug.

Hope that that made things a little clearer. And more specific information will be sent out soon. If you are still struggling with the idea, it is a bit like the Great Climate Swoop of 2009, except where we are going is kept secret. Remember, you are being asked to come and move around London, so stay mobile, be creative, be prepated and be ready to stand your ground. So talk in your affinity group about the ways in which you are going to be able to hold a space and equipment and materials that you might want to bring along to help you. The action is open, and will be shaped by the people who are there. Only the targets and how we are getting to them are secret.

3. The call out – please copy and paste and help get this all over the Internet!

THE CRUDE AWAKENING

A mass action to switch off oil

Saturday, 16 October 2010, Central London

Floods in Pakistan, drought in Russia, huge glaciers breaking up in Greenland…

Our climate system is rapidly sliding into crisis, as oil companies destroy people’s lives and the environment to keep sucking up their profits.

Oil saturates every aspect of our lives. Oil profits lubricate the financial markets and its sponsorship clings like a bad smell to our cultural institutions. It flows through pipelines to the pumps, airports and factories of our cities.

The failure of the UN COP15 process showed us – if there was ever any doubt – that government and industry can’t tackle climate change. It’s up to us and it’s time to up the ante.

As a movement, our actions against coal and aviation have made a real difference. Now oil’s time is up.

Together, on October 16, let’s give the oil industry a Crude Awakening.

Meet in central London. Be ready to move. Be ready to stay and stand your ground.

Be creative. Be prepared. Be there.

Find out more, get involved and sign up for text alerts at www.crudeawakening.org.uk
Facebook: http://bit.ly/c6S0kg
Twitter: @crudeawake

Part of the CJA global week of action for climate justice
Supported by: Space Hijackers, Climate Camp, Plane Stupid, Rising Tide, Liberate Tate, Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, UK Tar Sands Network

Hope to see you on the streets,
Crude Awakening
crudeawakening.org.uk

Stop Nuclear Power gathering, 23-24 October 2010

Sat 23 – Sun 24 Oct 2010, Bristol

Meet, make plans, take action

Sat 23 – Sun 24 Oct 2010, Bristol

Meet, make plans, take action

Stop Nuclear Power is a grassroots network of groups and individuals taking action against nuclear power. If EdF get their way, Hinkley C will become the first nuclear power station built in Britain for 20 years and will sit next to two other radioactive and dangerous sites. Stop Hinkley is a long running community campaign to stop deadly nuclear reactors operating near their homes.
Their struggle is our struggle. Let’s sit down together in Bristol and make some plans together.

Hinkley is the battleground, if they get one in there, it opens the door for at least nine other nuclear power stations across the country. This Autumn, the government is taking its pro-nuclear propaganda on tour around the UK. We’ll be there. Come to the gathering or send us an email to find out how you can get involved.

www.boycottedf.org.uk

Info for the weekend:

Meeting space during the day on Saturday and Sunday tbc but will be in Bristol.
Crash space is available on a dry, warm and quiet floor space.
If you need a bed please get in contact with us as soon as possible and will try and help you out.
Lunch and dinner will be done communally on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.

For a telephone number to contact during the weekend send us an email.

Please help by letting us know you are coming so we can plan for space, food and logistics.

Email: nonewnuclear@aktivix.org

Bath Bomb #32 Out Now

THE BATH BOMB

@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!

Issue #32

free/donation

August 2010

“Fast, aggressive, and it wants your sandwich!”

Armaggedon Outta Here

THE BATH BOMB

@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!

Issue #32

free/donation

August 2010

“Fast, aggressive, and it wants your sandwich!”

Armaggedon Outta Here

An unpalatable modern-day truth is that human life, far from being sacred, is deemed expendable, almost an inconvenience, when the collision of politics, power and economics provokes conflict. Then, the bigger the conflict, the greater the number of lives wasted.

This month marks an especially poignant anniversary. In 1945, U.S. President Harry S. Truman took the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan: ‘Little Boy’ was detonated over Hiroshima on August 6th in that year ; on August 9th, ‘Fat Man’ was exploded over Nagasaki. Both cities were near-obliterated.

The tens of thousands who died instantly were mostly civilians. The ‘rationale’ for these acts of mass slaughter, if it is even possible to dignify them with that term, was that Hiroshima and Nagasaki had considerable industrial and military significance, and that their annihilation would put an end to Japanese prospects of territorial aggrandisement , terminating their involvement in World War II.

The body-count from both atrocities was a tragic coda to the tally of the total lives squandered in the entire six-year conflict. The American propaganda machine sought to spin what was in effect mass murder into a moral and military ‘success’, claiming that if the Japanese hadn’t surrendered after two of their cities had thus been blown to pieces, then a land invasion would have undoubtedly had to be carried out to achieve the same effect, costing the lives of thousands of U.S. troops.

It shows just what a moral vacuum the U.S. high command were living in when they had to skulk behind a hypothesis to avoid copping the blame for what in anyone else’s language would be interpreted as a cold-blooded war crime.

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was, and still is, indefensible. You can never ‘save’ lives by taking them. We all need to be reminded of the horrors which took place in Japan in early August 1945, because the nuclear monster that was unleashed upon the world then is still with us. It lurks off the British coast in the form of the Trident submarine fleet.

To tout the power-plant used by these weapons-in-waiting, as Cameron’s government is now doing, as a domestic energy source,  shows that politicians continue to bamboozle the public with smokescreens while they harbour fantasies of nuking their way to world domination. 

To blow billions on an unnecessary armament upgrade at a time of swingeing public service cuts would be laughable were it not such an obscenity.

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Join The Resistance!

Considering the state’s massive attack on ordinary people, with cuts to jobs, services, pensions and benefits, the time has come to fight back. We should not be expected to pay for the crises caused by politicians and bankers. We are not all ‘in this together’ – the rich politicians in the Cabinet and the bankers with their bonuses are not affected. Members of B.A.N., along with others in the trade unions, are setting up an anti-cuts campaign in Bath, fighting to protect every job and defend pensions, services and benefits from cuts. The campaign is open to all those affected by government policy. We need to organise and fight back together.

The campaign will be organising a big public meeting at the end of September, and hopes to attract support from all affected groups. If you wish to get involved, contact johnbamphylde[at]yahoo.co.uk or phone 07908 355456.

More info is to follow in next month’s issue, but here are some important dates for your diary: the next Bath Anti-Cuts Committee meeting is at the Bell, Tuesday 24th August, 8pm; Sunday 3rd October will be a national day of action outside the Tory Party Conference in Birmingham; Wednesday 20th October will be the day of budget announcement; and Saturday 23rd October will be a regional day of action against the planned cuts.

And here are some websites to check out, too: http://www.righttowork.org.uk, and http://www.coalitionofresistance.wordpress.com.

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Fight And Unite!

Some anarchists argue that the main trade unions are bureaucratic, their leaders have sold out and they have little relevance to working class people. They argue that anarchists should form their own unions. However, many young people find unions boring and do not really understand what they are. Others argue back that unions are still workers’ organisations, that they could still be the force to take on the capitalist state, and that workers should join and fight within unions to make them more democratic and combative.

At the Bath Socialist Forum meeting on Monday 30th August, at 8pm, we will be discussing the way forward for workers in trades unions, presented by John Bamphylde of Bath Trades Council. The following meeting, on Monday 27th September, will be presented by film-maker Ken Loach. The meetings take place at St James Wine Vaults, and all are welcome.

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Killer Faces Unemployment!

A disciplinary hearing is to be held against P.C. Simon Harwood on the grounds of gross misconduct with regards to an attack on Ian Tomlinson on April 1st 2009. It is considered likely the outcome will be immediate dismissal.

I pose this question, doesn’t it seem a bit extreme to take away this man’s occupation simply for a light shove? After all, to push from behind is all part and parcel with policing a large-scale protest. Certainly, Tomlinson wasn’t dead immediately after the incident, so why then should Mr Harwood be subjected to mix with the doleys and scroungers?

A few individuals are claiming the P.C. to be guilty of manslaughter and hence deserves to lose his livelihood. These people are clearly revenge-bent or deranged as it is well known that there has been a long (and naturally therefore thorough) investigation by the C.P.S., which decided there was no case. Irrefutably trustworthy pathological evidence has shown the man died of natural causes. Further, the video footage doesn’t even show the man hitting the ground, let alone gaining injuries. Surely only one conclusion can be reached, that P.C. Simon Harwood is undeniably innocent.

Clearly, it was a highly volatile situation and a police officer cannot be blamed for getting a bit touchy-feely. If people get so het up about this, then with the home office more and more concerned about P.R., in the end we’ll have a police force too scared to catch any criminals.

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Agri-Culture Shock

Transition Bath are starting up a new scheme in Bathampton, working with the Hughes family to restore a six acre area of land to organic production, and hope to bring together locals to explore how this can be done. Transition Bath are a local environmentalist group aiming to build a sustainable future using the power of community, in the face of declining natural resources and increasing costs. They hope to make the transition to a low carbon, local economy, whilst creating positive, self-reliant communities. This project should turn out to be the first Community Supported Agriculture (C.S.A.) scheme in the city – a partnership between farmers and the surrounding community, providing mutual benefits for both, and reconnecting people to the land. Whether you would like to grow your own, meet other locals, or get involved in a project to help reduce food bills and food miles, why not come along to the end of Holcombe Lane, near Holcombe Farm, Bathampton, at 1pm, on Sunday the 15th August for a barbecue and fruit pick. All donations to Transition Bath will be much appreciated. For more info, contact Jamie Colston at jamiecolston[at]gmail.com, or ring 01225 851377.

Another example of the link between ethical sustainability, the community and the food we eat, has been going on down at the Riverside Youth Centre on London Road since 2001. The London Road Food Co-op is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit members’ co-operative, opening Wednesdays from 4-7pm at the end of the lane behind the former Porter Butt pub. Membership is affordable and paid annually on a sliding voluntary scale between £3 and £10, and members get access to a whole host of organic, fairly traded and vegan-friendly wholefoods and groceries, without the price mark-up you will see in other stores. In the past the co-op has also operated a weekly veg, fruit, egg and bread scheme, which it hopes to revive. In the meantime, though, this is a great little friendly project, and is keen to attract members and volunteers. If you do want to find out more, why not pop along, or give them a call on 07837 784715?

http://www.transitionbath.org

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Food Fayre Thought

Lazily aping our article from last month, in case you didn’t catch it, Saturday the 4th September will mark the day of the second annual Bath Vegan Fayre! Running from 12 midday til 4pm downstairs at Manvers Street Baptist Church, free entry, expect hours of free vegan savoury and sweet delights, as well as a sprinkling of talks and conversation, with a (non-dairy) creamy after-taste of nutritional and ethical info. In a delicious dash of déjà vu, there will also be a benefit gig at the Hobgoblin on Friday 27th August, from 8pm, featuring bands and D.J.s, £3 entry. Helpers for both would be much appreciated! E-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk, or ring 07717 130954 for further info. And again, don’t forget Bristol’s grassroots vegan fayre/fair, taking place on Saturday 30th October in a venue near you.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

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

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

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

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

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

Bathampton Community Supported Agriculture barbecue & fruit pick, Sunday 15th August, 1pm, Holcombe Lane, Bathampton, e-mail jamiecolston[at]gmail.com/ tel Jamie 01225 851377 FFI

Regional hunt saboteurs get together, Sunday 15th August, 1pm, Bristol Downs

Bath Cycling Campaign meeting, Monday 16th August, 7.30pm, Rising Sun, Grove Street, http://www.bathcyclingcampaign.org.uk

Climate Camp Ireland, Thursday 16th to Monday 20th August, Victoria Bridge, County Tyrone, http://www.climatecamp.ie

Quebec Climate Action Camp, Wednesday 18th August to Sunday 22nd August, http://www,climateactionmontreal.wordpress.com/climatecam

Family Fun Day – Outdoor Cooking workshop, Thursday 19th August, 12-3pm, Broadlands Orchard, Box Road, Bathford, £15 per family (suitable for over 7s), booking essential: http://www.bathford.net/broadlands.php

Camp for Climate Action UK, Thursday 19th August to Tuesday 24th August, Edinburgh, http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/actions

talk: ‘The Venus Project’, Saturday 21st August, 1-5pm, Victoria Rooms – The Auditorium University of Bristol, Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1SA, £16.02 entry; http://thevpinbristol.eventbrite.com

Climate Camp Germany, Saturday 21st August to Sunday 29th August, Erkelenz- Borschemich, http://www.klimacamp2010.de

film: ‘The War Game’, Sunday 22nd August, 2.30pm, the Arnolfini, Bristol; http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/films/details/716

Bath Hunt Saboteurs meeting, Monday 23rd August, 8-9pm, The Bell, tel Justin 07854 062336

Bath Anti-Cuts Committee meeting, Tuesday 24th August, 8pm, The Bell, Walcot Street

Bath Stop the War meeting, Wednesday 25th August, 7.30pm, Friends Meeting House, York Street, Bath, BA1 1NG; http://www.bathstopwar.org.uk

Family Fun Day – Build Your Own Pond workshop, Thursday 26th August, 12-3pm, Broadlands Orchard, Box Road, Bathford, £15 per family (suitable for over 7s), booking essential: http://www.bathford.net/broadlands.php

Bath Vegan Fayre benefit gig, Friday 27th August, 8-11pm, Hobgoblin, St James Parade; more details tbc

Bath Stop The War Coalition vigil: vote with your money against Trident, Saturday 28th August, 11.30am-12.30, Bath Abbey Courtyard, other Bath human rights/trade & development/ justice/trades union organisations are invited to support Critical Mass Bike Ride, Saturday 28th August, 1pm, Kingsmead Square, http://www.bathcyclingcampaign.org.uk

Climate Justice Action meeting at the Netherlands Earth First! Gathering, Saturday 28th August to Sunday 29th August, Utrecht, http://www.climate-justice-action.org

Bath Animal Action info stall, Sunday 29th August, 2-4pm, Stall Street, e-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk

Transition Bath Social, Monday 30th August, 7.15pm, the Love Lounge/ back room of the Bell, Walcot Street; bring food to share; http://www.transitionbath.org

Bath Socialist Forum meeting, Monday 30th August, 8pm, upstairs St James Wine Vaults, presented by John Bamphylde/Bath Trades Council

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

Bath Activist Network meeting, Thursday 2nd September, 7.30-9pm, downstairs at The Hobgoblin, St James Parade, http://www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Thursday 2nd to Friday 3rd September, St Werburgh’s City Farm, Boiling Wells, Bristol, BS2 9YJ, 7.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

Bath Vegan Fayre, Saturday 4th September, 12-4pm, Manvers Street Baptist Church, free entry

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Saturday 4th September, St Werburgh’s City Farm, Boiling Wells, Bristol, BS2 9YJ, 2.30pm & 7.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Sunday 5th September, St Werburgh’s City Farm, Boiling Wells, Bristol, BS2 9YJ, 2.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

Bath Green Drinks, Wednesday 8th September, 8.30pm, the Rising Sun, Grove Street

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Thursday 9th to Friday 10th September, Hampton Row Allotments, Bathwick, 7.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

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

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Saturday 11th September, Hampton Row Allotments, Bathwick, 2.30pm & 7.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

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

Bath Animal Action meeting, Monday 13th September, 8-9pm, The Bell, Walcot Street, e-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Thursday 16th to Friday 17th September, Peasedown St John Community Farm, Dunkerton Hill, BA2 8PJ, 7.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Saturday 18th September, Peasedown St John Community Farm, Dunkerton Hill, BA2 8PJ, 2.30pm & 7.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

Regional South West Animal Rights Coalition meeting, Sunday 19th September, 12-5pm, The Factory, Cave Street, central Bristol

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues),

Sunday 19th September, Peasedown St John Community Farm, Dunkerton Hill, BA2 8PJ, 2.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Thursday 23rd to Friday 24th September, Bloomfield Allotments, Bear Flat, 7.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

Kilter theatre : ‘Roots: Replanted’ (performance about food security issues), Saturday 25th September, Bloomfield Allotments, Bear Flat, 2.30pm & 7.30pm, £9 (£7 concessions), tel 01225 386777 to book, http://www.kiltertheatre.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bristol Free Vegan Food Fair, Saturday 30th October, more details tbc

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

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

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The Only Good Boss Is A Dead Boss?

B&NES Council has managed to well and truly shit on its workers once again through its recent advertisement of a new job role to fill. After cutting loose 70 staff in the last couple months, and planning at least another 300 job losses in the near future, the creation of the new Head of Property post, with its wage packet of between £71,166 and £76,638 per year, tells those former employees exactly what the council thinks of them. The creation of this managerial role could only happen once the rank and file, who actually do the work rather than just fanny around sacking people, had been let go. Set to manage (i.e. leave them all boarded up for years then flog) the council’s portfolio of 1,000 buildings, many in retail, worth more than £500 million, this has left union officials furious with the council chiefs. But here at the Bath Bomb, considering the calibre of inhuman slitherings and evolutionary dead-ends infesting the rest of B&NES’s Property Services department, we wonder what sort of two-faced reptilian abomination they’ll dredge up to fill that role, and which carnival freak show will soon be missing its star attraction?

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

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Gull War Syndrome

There’s an epidemic going on! You may or may not have heard about the killer seagulls roaming the streets of bath. Or, EVEN WORSE the murderous foxes patrolling EVERY CITY IN THE UK!!! looking for pets and children to eat. The national press have bravely soldiered on to warn the general public of these menaces, one Bath photographer took his life in his hands to get a picture of the gull menace close up.

Bath landlords are feeling the need to join brave vigilante groups to oil the eggs and stop the demon spawn escaping. Unfortunately these brave souls have neglected to think about why wild animals would chose to move into urban areas.

The only reason that wildlife can survive in cities is our attitude to waste. Pigeons, gulls and foxes all survive on the disgusting amount of food waste scattered all over. ‘Gull prevention measures’ in one part of Bath simply move the problem to the next street. If homeowners, landlords and the council made a concerted effort to get rid of the birds they could do so easily. All it takes is to clean up our waste.

The disposable culture we live in means that a huge amount is thrown out, a lack of adequate recycling facilities (along with pure laziness on many peoples part) means that waste is left on our streets for days before being collected. Along with animals being able to survive on all of this, it also poses risks to them. The fact that food waste, when not composted, is mixed in with other rubbish means that animals are at risk of choking, poisoning, and numerous other horrible deaths – leading to the sight of rotting corpses on our streets. Surely not good for the tourists?

In order to ensure humans are kept away from this dangerous wildlife entirely, we need to make our cities uninhabitable to these menaces. Cleaning up after yourself – rather than tossing the blame at any old scapegoat – should do it.

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From Our Unclothed Correspondent

“On Sunday 13th June, I took part in the first proper ‘Bristol World Naked Bike Ride’, to protest against oil dependency, in favour of curbing car culture and to have car- free Sundays in the city and a celebration of body freedom. By riding nude, protesters demonstrate the vulnerability of cyclists on the busy streets. It also feels good and liberating.

We met at the Full Moon pub, Stokes Croft, Bristol at 12 noon, and it was a lovely hot sunny day so people started stripping off beforehand in the beer garden, as you had to stay dressed inside the pub.

The ride headed off about 1pm, most of the cyclists were naked including myself, some were body-painted, others had small costumes on, it’s a clothes-optional protest, but the more that are nude the better. There was no police presence.

Spectators lined  some of the route cheering and enjoying the event which went through Broadmead, Castle Green, the Centre, Baldwin St, Old Market and College Green, where we stopped for a photo call before heading back to the Full Moon where many remained naked outside until leaving late afternoon.

The protest was a great success, with good photos on Bristol Indymedia, and the local press. The World Naked Bike Ride is an international event and this year there were rides in London, Brighton, Southampton, York, Sheffield andManchester, it’s growing. It’s also showing that there is nothing wrong with the human body and being a free spirit.”

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Hitting The Books

Continuing with the current plugging craze, the Bristol Anarchist Bookfair follows hot on the Bath Vegan Fayre’s heels, on Saturday 11th September. There is a definite growth of anarchist and alternative bookfairs happening through the U.K. and abroad, which shows both increased co-operation between different anarchist trends, and a growing interest in finding an alternative to the failures of capital – not too surprising, considering the state our economy and planet is in! The event will feature two floors of stalls, workshops, books, zines, merchandise, and talks, plus a radical history zone, film room, creche and vegan café. Taking place at Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft in Bristol, from 10.30am to 6pm, the fair (they obviously didn’t quite have the gumption to go with ‘fayre’) is free and accessible to all, and is guaranteed to open both eyes and wallets.

http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org

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Don’t Think We’re Alone Now

For our Bristol readers, ‘The Autonomist’, Bristol’s new radical news sheet and directory, is out now: get it online at http://www.bristolautonomist.blogspot.com!

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I Would Have Got Away With It Too, If It Wasn’t For You Heddlu Kids

The long-awaited Welsh Climate Camp/Climate Camp Cymru went into action on Friday 13th of this month, focusing once more on the polluting evils of the coal extraction industry, and set up near the Selar and Nant-Helen (due for expansion) opencast coal mines, in Glyn-Neath in South Wales. Both mines are owned by Celtic Energy. The Selar mine itself destroyed a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) back in the 1990s, for added ecocide – trashing vital marsh thistles, and failing to rehome the colony of rare marsh fritillary butterflies. For the camp itself, as with previous camps, a positive agenda of decentralised, renewable power systems, communal living, eco-action planning and skillshare workshops were all on the cards.

However, the Welsh police put paid to all that the next day, prematurely evicting the site and 30 or so activists present, drawing on a massive outlay of mounted police and at least 15 riot vans full. Maybe Friday the 13th wasn’t such a good day after all?

On related news, the 13 remaining defendants of April’s Ffos-y-fran coal train blockade were conditionally discharged at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on the Friday; the other five had their charges dropped in July. A lifelong restraining order barring them from the vicinity of Aberthaw Power Station and the Ffos-y-fran mine hangs round their necks. They were greeted outside court by more mounted police, two riot vans and the flashes of BBC and ITV photographers. Ahh, the price of fame.

http://www.bristol.indymedia.org.uk/article/693181

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Print version
Other issues and extra info

Earth First! Summer Gathering set-up plans announced

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

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

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

What we need to know:

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

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

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

How to get there

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

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

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

What to bring

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

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

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

Big thanks for offering to help out

Do get in touch if you have any questions

Love & rage

The EF! Gathering crew

Bath Bomb #31 Out Now

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

George’s Marvellous Medicine!

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

George’s Marvellous Medicine!

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

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

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

Enough irony.

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

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

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

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

It’s A SHSEI-ing Shame

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nice Work If You Can Skellett

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

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

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

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

A Class (War) Act!

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

Climate Camp Counters Cymru Coal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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UPCOMING EVENTS

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

Painted Lions As White Elephants

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

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

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

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

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

Smashing News!

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

http://www.smashedo.org.uk

Pre-emptive Incarceration For Bath’s ASBO Bastards

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

There Is Such Thing As A Free Lunch

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

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

Rich Justice

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

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

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

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

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

Bath Bomb #30 Out Now

THE BATH BOMB

@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!

Issue #30

free/donation

June ’10

“Fucking Laws at your expense”

Electile Dysfunction

THE BATH BOMB

@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!

Issue #30

free/donation

June ’10

“Fucking Laws at your expense”

Electile Dysfunction

As readers may have noticed, May the 6th’s hung parliament (no nooses, more’s the pity) and subsequent clamour of backroom deals has led to a coalition featuring the odious ’18 of our MPs went to Eton’ Conservatives and the almost-as-posh ‘Tory-lite’ Lib Dems. Now the dust has settled, it’s clear that no parties have a mandate for the cuts they will try to unleash. No party dared to clearly set out what the Financial Times dubbed the “brutal” economical decisions required. That is simply because to do so would have been electoral suicide. If they had been honest about the cuts – the first stage being £6.2 billion hacked from vital public services, hundreds of thousands of jobs and harsh pay slashes – then nobody would have voted for them. The markets and ruling class demand a vicious economic program (rather than ‘rich tax’) that will mean turmoil. There will be resistance from unions, service-users and the community alike, with the fight moving from the ballot box to the picket lines and to the streets. Ordinary people cannot be expected to pay for a crisis caused by corrupt politicians and bankers and, like the people of Greece, Ireland, Spain and Romania, we must be prepared to fight every cut, and protect every job. Locally, B.A.N. and others are planning to set up a ‘Public Services Defence Group’, and everyone is invited to join – to protect our rights, jobs, pay, pensions and benefits. Together, we can win.

Pressing Their Luck?

Tesco are now displaying for public comment their plans to occupy the former Bath Press site and demolish the entire building, leaving nothing but a wobbly-looking front wall. The new site, to incorporate a ‘community hall’ – presumably similar to the social improvements promised at other Tesco sites, which have almost universally failed to materialise – will be Tesco’s first major store in Bath. 650 ‘new jobs’ are also promised. The economics behind this claim are flawed, however. As the market for food is already saturated here – otherwise there’d be a city-wide outbreak of malnutrition – the new store won’t be creating any new markets, and so will just be taking custom away from existing stores. As Tesco is renowned for their efficiency and high income-to-staff ratio, this will cause an overall drop in employment as other businesses close or shed staff. In fact, studies have shown that the opening of a large supermarket causes an overall loss of 276 jobs per new store opened.

For a more hopeful outlook, look to Bristol, where the anti-Tesco campaign on Stokes Croft has left the council considering placing a Compulsory Purchase Order on the site and handing it over to the community, as an indoor market incorporating local ‘Time Bank’ trading schemes.

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

Schools Of Hard Cuts

Amongst the raft of cuts the Tories and their pet Lib Dems have unleashed on us, their plans for education stand out for sheer idiocy. Dressed up as ‘freeing teachers from bureaucracy and letting them teach’, their plans in fact boil down to selling off the entire education system wholesale. Intent on sending our schools the same way as the railways and energy companies, the Tories intend to auction off schools to companies and religious groups. The plan has already been exposed as a failure, with working conditions for teachers, attainment for pupils and bullying management all coming under scrutiny in existing academies, and the country’s largest academy group United Learning Trust (ULT) being banned from taking on more schools. With several schools in Bath exploring the academy route, we spoke to ‘Matt’, a teacher in a local academy about the prospect of spreading the academy love. “It would be a terrible idea,” Matt tells us, “Working in an academy, you are driven by bullying management that aren’t bound to follow the same pay and conditions that state schools are tied to. Unions are discouraged, and union members face questioning and harrassment. Every facet of school life is out-sourced to private companies, often leading to a substandard provision of education for the kids. As academies are grades driven, teachers are routinely bullied into faking coursework, and lower ability pupils are ignored in favour of C/D borderline kids. On top of that, anyone with enough cash can sponsor an academy, meaning that some really unsavoury, and right wing religious and corporate groups control our kids education. From personal experience, the academy system is an unfair and failing system, for staff and kids.” Four schools in the Bath area are already threatened with closure, including Oldfield, to be replaced by two academies. With unions already gearing up for the fightback, why not drop an email to your kids school and let them know how you feel about the future of your child being flogged to the highest bidder.

Consultation Stitch-up On The Kennet And Avon

About 20 travelling boat dwellers attended the Kennet and Avon Canal User Group meeting on the 29th April where the recent consultation on setting up local mooring strategies was discussed.

Although 73 out of 98 responses to British Waterways opposed the idea, BW’s Damian Kemp told the meeting it will go ahead and start setting up the first strategy group on the Kennet and Avon between Devizes and Bath. BW justified this by saying that many of the replies were from groups rather than from individuals, and gave the groups more credence. Boaters challenged this interpretation as BW did not make clear at any stage that responses from groups would be treated differently. Now, many boaters believe that the process was a complete sham and the results are being manipulated to support BW’s agenda of ridding live-aboard boaters from the Kennet and Avon and replacing them with “the leisure industry”. This is demonstrated by the comments of James Young, another BW employee, describing the process as “a working party to address the problems associated with liveaboards.”

Damian Kemp, who was appointed in mid 2009 to head the project implementing mooring strategy groups on the Kennet and Avon, inadvertently admitted the discrepancy. Whilst telling the meeting at one point that the responses from individuals were given less weight than those from groups, a few minutes later he contradicted himself by saying that the results were not weighted. What is more, Mark Stephens, manager of the Kennet and Avon, admitted at the meeting that there is no additional money in the current budget for a local mooring strategy group, and that to set it up could cut funding in other areas. This all sounds completely unworkable. And why did BW hold a consultation when Mr Kemp had already been appointed?

These restrictions will be decided by a steering group in which most of the boating community in this area will not have a say, even though they are the only group that is directly affected. Yet, if BW’s plans go ahead, many will be forced to make a tough choice: lose the home or lose the job. Plenty may also be forced to give up their homes to keep their children in school. BW has already worked with Bathampton and Claverton Parish Councils in Summer 2009 to draw up these proposed mooring restrictions, which will vastly reduce the availability of two-week moorings between Bradford and Bath. Boaters only discovered this plot by accident, and were never invited to these meetings or informed about them. The minutes of these meetings, maps and associated correspondence are published in an article entitled ‘The Outer Zone’, see http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/wordpress/?p=77

The 1995 British Waterways Act confers a statutory right for boats to cruise the waterways without having a permanent mooring, so long as they do not remain in any one place for more than fourteen days, or a longer period if there are exceptional circumstances.

The next boaters’ meeting takes place on the 16th of June upstairs at the Georgian Lodge Hotel in Bradford-on-Avon. For more information, contact info[at]boatingcommunity.org.uk.

http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk

Eco Village Of The Damned

Back on the 5th of May, after a maze of legal battles, the first incarnation of the Bristol Eco Village was evicted. The villagers moved onto a disused plot of land in St Werburghs in April to set up a community to experiment with sustainable living on and improving industrially contaminated land.

The London-based landowners made several illegal attempts to evict them before finally… wait for it… going through legal channels to get their land back, so they could get on with developing it at the expense of the local community, the endangered newt population, and the wider environment. But a mass of local residents decided they’d rather have a low-impact living project on their doorstep than profit-driven development. On eviction day they blockaded the gates that bailiff company Constant & Co were attempting to enter the site by. Later they occupied a cherry-picker as it attempted to enter the site. Game on!

However the over-arching memory of the day will be the sad hospitalization of one villager, cynically assaulted by the bailiffs while atop a tripod. Bailiffs disregarded health and safety regulations and collapsed the tripod, crushing the villager’s leg between long sturdy metal poles, and then sitting on them. Villagers are appealing for any witnesses to come forward, particularly those with any video footage of the assault.

The Bristol Eco Village briefly took a new site on the 15th of May, near Temple Meads train station. Rumours abound about the Eco Village’s next move, with a possible pincer movement to simultaneously occupy land adjoining the canal in Bath and a second site in Bristol, being on the cards.

Constant & Co are a notoriously brutal collection of pondlife (not newts) that proudly specialise in forcing the vulnerably housed onto the streets. Any ‘concerns’ can be ‘voiced’ to them at 66 Harpur Street, Bedford, MK40 2RA.

Short And Snappy

Whilst the government decided on the 12th of May to scrap Heathrow expansion and additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted, at the end of May, North Somerset Council chose a different path. Ignoring not only B&NES and Bristol Councils, but also 5,000+ objections, the latest findings on climate change and World Health Organisation noise and health guidance, they greenlighted Bristol Airport’s planning application. Stop Bristol Airport Expansion are now looking to the Secretary of State, and are building funds to mount a legal challenge – contact them for info at email[at]stopbia.com

Despite expert scientific advice, the government has decided to follow the Welsh lead (and unsustainable industrial farming lobby) and push ahead with a national badger cull, particularly in bovine TB hotspots like Devon and Cornwall. The annual cull in Pembrokeshire, repeated for five years, costs £10 million so far, with balaclava’d contractors aiming to kill off 80% of the local population. Your local animal rights groups need you!

For the first time in 12 years, the EU has approved the growth of genetically engineered crops. A petition might be all that stands in their way!: http://www.greenpeace.org/GEpetition

EDF’s bid for the proposed Hinkley C nuclear power station has just had its planning application delayed a second time, from early July to the 1st of December. Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has stated that there will be no government subsidies available for new nuclear build

Local campaigning group S.W.A.G. have formed to dissuade Charlie from selling off royal greenbelt land near Newton St Loe, doomed for the construction of 2,000 homes. However, they won an unexpected overkill victory when the ConDem alliance scrapped Neo-Labour’s plans for 21,300 homes in the local area, and potentially the contested Bus Rapid Transit route, too!

Catnaps And Chinwags

It’s been a strange time for Bath’s Black Cat independent community social centre. Thrown out in the rain from their former opulent home at the old Porter Butt pub on London Road (after a storming ‘Never Mind the Vote, Here’s the Folk’ gig) on the 7th of May. Landlord Julian Richer and a dodgy collusion of Bath police and Manchester-based JMW solicitor (claiming to be a bailiff), rather than go to the trouble of legitimately attaining a Warrant of Eviction, instead just intimidated the residents to “voluntarily leave”. Since then those frisky Black Cats have been homeless and gone through an internal shake-up, teaming up with the Snow Hill Skills and Enterprise Initiative (who have been patiently attempting to work with the Council for four years to set up a grassroots, poverty-breaking and ecologically-sustainable community centre for the local, deprived area) and helping birth the ‘Black Kitten’ anarchist free lending library in Stokes Croft, in Bristol. Though determined to keep it real and radical, the collective are currently going through a spate of negotiations over premises with Council and political officials. Who’d have thought it? In the meantime, there’s everything to play for, and the Black Cat is very keen for new volunteers to get involved: contact them at bathsocialcentre[at]gmail.co.uk.

http://www.blackcatcentre.blogspot.com

EVENTS

London Road Food Co-op, Wednesdays, 4-7pm, Riverside Community Centre, London Road

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

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

Recycle Your Sundays, Sundays, 10.30am, starts Abbey Churchyard, the regular series of sociable, easy-paced cycle rides, http://www.bathrys.org.uk/ tel Hazel 01225 469199

Bath FreeShop, Saturday 12th June, 12-3pm, outside Pump Rooms, Stall Street

Broadlands Orchardshare Volunteering Day, Saturday 12th June, 12-4pm, Broadlands Orchard, Box Road, Bathford, http://www.bathford.net/broadlands.php

Palladium Bridge Picnic: with the Natural Theatre Company, Saturday 12th June, 6pm, Prior Park

AmnesTea fund-raising cream tea, Saturday 12th June, 2.30-5.30pm, 6 Widcombe Terrace, BA2 6AJ, http://www.greenbath.org

Widcombe Rising festival, Sunday 13th June, 1.30-7.30pm, Widcombe, http://www.widcombe.net

Bristol Naked Bike Ride, Sunday 13th June, location tbc, http://bristolwnbr.blogspot.com

film: ‘Establishing a Food Forest the Permaculture Way’, Sunday 13th June, 7.30pm, the Love Lounge/ back room of the Bell, Walcot Street, £5 entry, http://www.transitionbath.org

Bath Animal Action meeting, Monday 14th June, 8-9pm, The Bell, Walcot Street, e-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk

Boaters’ Meeting, Wednesday 16th June, 8pm, Georgian Lodge Hotel, Bradford on Avon

film: ‘Passengers’, Wednesday 16th June, 8pm, Cube Cinema, Bristol, bristolnoborders[at]riseup.net

film: ‘Welcome’, Thursday 17th June, 8pm, Cube Cinema, Bristol, bristolnoborders[at]riseup.net

Bathampton Community Growers workday, Saturday 19th June, 10am-dusk, Mill Lane, Bathampton, e-mail thelostplot[at]googlemail.com/ tel Chris 07792 444628

Coal Train Blockaders benefit defence gig, Saturday 19th June, 8pm, the Plough, Easton, Bristol, feat. Ceilidh Minogue, Heroin Hero and DJs

Bristol Anarchist Bookfair benefit punk & thrash gig and film, Sunday 20th June, 6pm, feat. Guarapita, Power Is Poison, Threat Manifesto and This Ends Here, £5, http://www.thebastardsquadcollective.wordpress.com

Bath Cycling Campaign meeting, Monday 21st June, 7.30pm, Rising Sun, Grove Street

talk: ‘Climate Migrants: Feeding Back from the World People’s Conference on Climate Change’, Wednesday 23rd June, 7pm, St. Paul’s Learning Centre, 94 Grosvenor Road, Bristol

Transition Bath Visit to Stroud Community Farm, Saturday 26th June, 8.43am from Bath Spa train station, http://www.stroudcommunityagriculture.org

Critical Mass Bike Ride, Saturday 26th June, 1pm, Kingsmead Square, http://www.bathcyclingcampaign.org.uk

Bath Animal Action info stall, Sunday 27th June, 2-4pm, Stall Street, e-mail bathanimalaction[at]yahoo.co.uk

Transition Bath Social, Monday 28th June, 7.15pm, the Love Lounge/ back room of the Bell, Walcot Street, http://www.transitionbath.org

Bath Hunt Saboteurs meeting, Monday 28th June, 8-9pm, The Bell, tel Justin 07854 062336

Bath Socialist Forum: ‘What is Socialism?’, Monday 28th April, 8pm, upstairs at St James Wine Vaults, e-mail ianjprior[at]aol.com

Bath Activist Network meeting, Thursday 1st July, 7.30-9pm, downstairs at The Hobgoblin, St James Parade, http://www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com

Earth Oven Cooking workshop, Saturday 3rd July, 10am-4pm, Broadlands Orchardshare, Box Road, Bathford, £25, http://www.bathford.net/broadlands.php

Bristol & South Wales Hunt Saboteurs punk & thrash benefit gig, Friday 9th July, 7.30pm, The White Hart, Whitehall Road, Bristol, feat. Kismet H.C., Death Job, Mutiny Plot and This Ends Here, £5

Introductory Permaculture Weekend, Saturday 10th to Sunday 11th July, Bath City Farm, £50, http://www.transitionbath.org

Bath Green Drinks, Wednesday 14th July, 8.30pm, the Rising Sun, Grove Street

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

Camp for Climate Action, Saturday 21st to Tuesday 24th August, Edinburgh, http://www.climatecamp.org.uk

Animal Cruelty? Noah Way!

Activists from Bath and Bristol have been running a concerted campaign against local animal abusing nutcases Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm. This shoddy establishment has a long history of neglect towards animals for ‘enjoyment’. The zoo has recently been the subject of a council investigation relating to a catalogue of animal welfare violations, including ill-treatment of the tigress Tira, leading to the death of her and her cubs. To make matters worse, the zoo were caught out having skinned, beheaded and buried the mother on farm land. In addition to this, the zoo trades animals with the notorious ‘Bobby Roberts’, a circus condemned by many organisations including the RSPCA for the horrific conditions and degrading, painful performances its animals are subjected to. As if the disgusting disregard with which the zoo treats its animals wasn’t reason enough to try and shut them down, the frankly nutty views of the zoos creationist owner make them a prime target for anyone who gets annoyed at fairy tales being passed of as fact! The whole zoo is a homage to the pseudo science of creationism, and numerous displays (including one that depicts the actual Noah’s ark as fact) try to convince bewildered visitors that the bible is the literal word of god, and that evolution is a myth! While several prime examples of the missing link can be seen operating the zoo, numbers of visitors have been dwindling as word of the disgusting animal cruelty and insane beliefs of the management spreads. Activists are holding weekly demos against the zoo with the aim of closing it down, and are confident of success. To get involved, come along to a demo, or to find out more about the zoo, contact Bristol Animal Rights Collective at barc[at]hotmail.co.uk.

Greek Economy Crumbles, Class War Erupts

Early May saw a massive eruption of working class anger greet the EU/IMF proposed bailout of the debt-ridden Greek economy. The bailout of some 120billion Euros over three years requires the Greek state and ‘socialist’ government to enact stringent austerity measures and cuts across all sectors of the workforce, except of course for the rich and greedy. Whether this cash comes in time to avoid a Greek state debt default remains to be seen, but it sure has the capitalist system worried as shares crashed worldwide.

Equally worrying for the bosses is the response from the Greek people. Massive strikes, protests and riots erupted across Greece on the 1st, the 5th and the 6th of May, and ongoing, as the working class made it clear they have no intention of paying for the capitalist crisis, nor of accepting further foreign intervention in their affairs. Parliament was nearly stormed, ministry buildings burned, and symbols of capitalism were attacked as strikers shut the country down. Such active resistance also brings more tragedies to go with the long list of people from all backgrounds killed and brutalised in the conflict. Homes, cafés and social centres were attacked by riot cops using gas, stun grenades and live ammo, and the military was put on full alert.

As the class war rages in Greece, the rest of the European ruling class look on aghast, terrified of the contagious effects of both the protests and the financial crisis, such as the wave of anti-cuts protest sweeping Bucharest in mid-May (and the public stoning of economy ministry official Marcel Hoara) and the Irish ‘Anglo Irish Bank’ occupations and ‘Right to Work’ demos at the same time. They and we know that we too face such attacks on our living standards as they seek to maintain the profit system. What nobody knows is how far the Greek resistance will go in challenging the power of the ruling class, nor how far we will follow down the same path?

http://libcom.org/news

http://www.occupiedlondon.org

Disproportional Murder

The Israeli army has once again engaged in its favourite game: Innocent People Massacre! Last time we left them, the Zionists were busy crushing all Palestinian hope by building a huge wall around Gaza, and not letting anyone out while killing the people inside under false pretexts.

A bunch of civilians thought they’d be sneaky, pretending to break the siege and all, by sailing to Gaza on a flotilla of boats named ‘Freedom Flotilla’. But raising a white flag didn’t fool our brave sectarians: clearly, they were secretly working with Hamas to kill Jews. Their instruments of death: aid, food, medical supplies, concrete.

So, on the 31st, a brave bunch of guys killed 19 people (all Turkish) aboard the Mavi Marmara, and wounded another 60. The rest of the crew, some 800 people, were just kidnapped and deported, Nazi-style, but without a camp at the end of the trip. That makes all the difference, you know.

Immediately after news of the massacre came out, demonstrations were held in many European countries. 2,000 people in London gathered outside the Israeli embassy to protest the slaughter. If the Israeli army didn’t kill them all, it probably was because they were too far away. Some other day, on a boat in international waters, maybe.

The usual empty round of outrage surged in the international political community. The common theme of which was, that the Israeli attack was disproportional to the threat the boat was representing. That’s an understatement, hinting at the white-washing of crimes.

The attack was not disproportional, it was not self-defence gone awry, it was unjustified. The Israeli forces have engaged in a criminal assault on the aid boat, in international waters, and they fired on innocent civilians. Naturally, the latter were said to have attacked the Israelis first. Sure, a bunch of civilians probably thought they were going to beat up the Israeli army and break the siege by force.

More important than the insanity of such an alibi, even if they had used force against Israeli forces illegally assaulting their ship, it would still be right. The Israelis had no right to be on there. Neither do they have a right to arbitrarily pen in 1.5 million innocents like cattle. That is, even if this had been a military expedition to break the siege, by law this would have been the right thing to do.

Every time you focus on details in a controversy, you end up conceding the larger point, which is the most grievously false. This blockade is illegal anyway, and that means force can be used to end it, never mind that the activists were pacifists engaging in aid.

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

BNPathetic!

For the average person, the last month’s elections have been nothing to smile about – cuts, deepening recession and a choice between tweedledum, tweedledumber and tweedle-Eton educated toff twat. However, one glimmer of hope came from the dismal, yet entertaining election campaign of the fascist BNP. Their campaign got off to a corker when fuhrer Nick Griffin contacted the police to squeal on his press officer, Mark Collett, who is allegedly plotting to kill him. After kicking Collett out of the party, then subsequently letting him back in, the second blow came just days before the election. Simon Bennett, the bloke behind the BNP website, decided he had had enough and took down the website. He then redirected visitors to a page listing the dire financial straits of the party as well as numerous compelling reasons not to vote BNP! On the same day, Griffin got pelted with rotten veg by an angry mob while out on the campaign trail. In the South West, the BNP fared no better, with a strong force of trade unionists leafleting against the BNP in Chippenham, Corsham and Swindon, meeting a few dejected and isolated fascists along the way. On election night, the BNP fared terribly, losing both council seats of Barking and Dagenham, even with Nazi Nick standing as their prospective MP in the area. Meanwhile, in Hereford, 20 anarchists under a banner reading ‘my grandparents didn’t vote for fascists, they shot them’ stormed the polling booth, chasing out the BNP candidate under a hail of boots and fruits! Locally and nationally, we have finally seen a clear indication that society has seen the BNP for what they are, a gaggle of white supremacist thugs who have no place in civilised society. Without gaining even a single seat on polling day, and with growing calls from inside the party for Nick Griffin to step down,it looks like we are witnessing the disintegration of the BNP. All they need now is a little push.

Steeeeerike!

Recent months have seen the unwelcome return of a trend not seen in many decades in this country – the banning of strikes. Both the recent BA cabin crew, and Rail, Maritime and Transport workers (RMT) signallers’ strikes have been banned by judges for various dubious ‘irregularities’ and the fact that the strikes may cause financial damage to the companies involved (sort of the point of a strike!). With the recession showing no sign of going away, and with massive job, pay and service cuts looming in the near future, this is a worrying precedent for stifling workers’ right to raise collective grievances. On top of this, the Tories hope to escalate the class war by introducing legislation which will all but ban strikes in the hope of choking the massive resistance that will inevitably fight back against the upcoming cuts. But it is not all doom and gloom. The last year has seen the resurgence of another old trend – the wildcat strike. Realising that bosses do not listen to polite requests, several factories were occupied by workers last year. If we hope to fight back against the anti-worker policies of the judiciary, the employers and the ruling class, we need to be prepared to take the initiative and flout oppressive anti strike and protest legislation. We are as powerful as we want to be. In the words of martyred trade union militant Joe Hill ‘If the workers took a notion they could stop all speeding trains; every ship upon the ocean they can tie with mighty chains’. As some other bloke said ‘when injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty’.

Necks On The Line

On the 26th of April, the railway line from Ffos-y-Fran opencast coal mine, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, was closed by folk from Bristol and Bath Rising Tide. The coal was due to supply the nearby Aberthaw power station, but never arrived.

Once absolutely certain the train wouldn’t leave the station – as the company and workers had been informed – the activists locked themselves to the track using chains and super glue. This single track is used only by the mine owners Miller Argent, and isn’t used by the public for travel.

It took some thirty South Wales coppers (plus a helicopter) four and a half hours to remove those locked on. As this happened the police received some incredibly irritating news: a second group had been hiding just round the corner and were, as they spoke, emerging and locking onto the tracks with reinforced lock-on arm tubes. Clearly too exhausted from their hard work to take a quick stroll down the line to check this out, the helicopter took to the skies once more. This swoop eventually confirmed what it had failed to notice from hours of previous surveillance – the second group, now cheerfully waving from the track. It took the cops until 8pm to arrest everyone and no coal left that day.

Local residents have been up in arms over the mine since it was first opened, just 30 metres from the nearest home, with many locals joining last year’s Climate Camp Cymru next to the site. Not only is opencast mining terrible for local people’s health (with black rain and rising lung complaints), it also destroys wildlife and local ecosystems and contributes massively to climate change. In the UK alone, 43 new mines or extensions have been applied for or approved in the last three years.

We need to rapidly change our energy systems to avert catastrophic climate chaos. This will take huge ambition, which the government is completely unable to achieve with its hands in the pockets of corporations. We can’t rely on their false solutions any more – it is down to ordinary people to develop worker and community control of our energy supply and our society.

Meanwhile, the 18 (one of which was handed the olympic bail conditions of having to reside in Cornwall, and somehow make the daily 150 mile return trip to sign on at Bath copshop, all without using trains) are back in court in Wales on the 8th of July to enter their pleas. They also have a benefit gig on the 19th June, 8pm, at the Plough in Easton.

http://www.risingtide.org.uk

http://www.stopffosyfran.co.uk

http://coalaction.org.uk

Politicians ‘Meet’ The ‘People’

My dad told me that when he was a boy growing up in the coalfields before the war that anyone standing for political office had to be able to do three things; do genuine public meetings, handle hecklers and dodge turnips thrown from the audience. How times change. Politicians now are worried about meeting genuine voters and during elections, move around protected from the rabble by minders and the authorities. Back on the 22nd of April, the three main party leaders staged a so called public debate in Bristol, before a specially selected audience who had to sit and ask preapproved questions, like good children. Outside, the real electors were being kept away from the meeting by lines of police. Around 300 people – a mixture of anarchists, socialists, animal rights and anti-war protestors one side and a group of seven pissed-up English Defence Leaguers on the other – made their voices heard. The defenders of democracy, the police, using batons and horses tried several times to push the protest away from the Arnolfini Centre, the location of the debate. The crowd stood firm however, and were able to deliver some succinct opinions to the party leaders as they drove in. Police made between seven and ten arrests, but were outfoxed at one time by anti-hunting activists aboard a boat who produced anti-bloodsports banners for the benefit of Cameron and his bloodthirsty toff mates. However, because of the secretive and controlled way this debate was run, whoever won it, it was democracy and the people who lost.

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