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UK Newswire Archive

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Greece Rebellion

15-05-2010 09:49

Follow the Greelk people..

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Repeating history with Iran

15-05-2010 09:27

A French court recently recognized the idiocy of one of the U.S. government’s attempts to enforce its sanctions against Iran by denying the government’s request to extradite an Iranian businessman for allegedly violating the sanctions.

Perhaps the court was familiar with how U.S. officials had used the so-called “dual use” game against the Iraqi people during the 11 years of brutal sanctions against Iraq.

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Censorship during the election campaign.

15-05-2010 07:24

I was curious as to why large public demonstrations, such as May 1st in Parliament Square, were not reported by the mainstream media.

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Greeks Protest Against Austerity Measures - Today in Bristol

15-05-2010 07:22

Let's protest against IMF and austerity measures in Greece!
Let's protest against IMF and austerity measures in Greece!

From today 9am the Greek parliament is under the occupation of the 3 bailing out banks and forces.

Join our peaceful demonstration on

Saturday 15th May 2010 at 2.30pm at College Green

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Parliament Square multi event action zone weekend- Network it

15-05-2010 00:15

Its gettin lively round Parliament square an ting,

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the queen visits parl square democracy village

14-05-2010 22:25

well it's probably not the real actual queen, but it's a chance to put up some pics from this week's actions around parliament square

on tuesday, concerned citizens successfully dropped a 'troops out' banner from the roof of st margaret's church opposite westminster abbey and the houses of parliament. after spending eight hours up there, they were eventually arrested under socpa for organising an 'unauthorised' protest.

meanwhile another daily petition was handed in to the new residents of downing street.

and today, apparently, the queen came to inspect the new people's oak tree in the square, and to wish the villagers well in hosting their day of actions tomorrow, starting with a guerilla gardening event at 1pm, hosting the purple 'take back parliament' protest at 2, and then partying with 'rave against the machine' at 4. later tomorrow there is a climate camp overnight vigil beginning at 11pm.

more info on all these events elswhere on indymedia

 

news and info on the democracy village at http://democracyvillage.blogspot.com

 

pics courtesy of 'peaceful warrior'

Full article | 1 comment

RWB farm gets a late night visit

14-05-2010 20:20

Alan Warner had his gates locked and a nasty package dumped in his letterbox. This scumbag hosts a Nazi festival on his farm against the wishes of the local community. Last year he told the Derby Telegraph that he'd had enough of the attention that antifascists were giving him and was going to move to the Peaks. This is a reminder to him to hurry up and fuck off.

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Palestine's Nakba commemoration in London - Saturday 15 May, 12-2pm

14-05-2010 20:17

On Nakba Day, tell the government to take action now:

Free Palestine!

Saturday 15 May, 12-2pm

Opposite 10 Downing Street, London SW1 (nearest tube Westminster)

Full article | 5 comments

Sold Short with AV

14-05-2010 18:22

 Saturday sees a continuation of protests as the Take Parliament Back campaign hits Scotland's capital. As part of a nationwide campaign tomorrow afternoon, protesters will march from Edinburgh City Chambers to The Mound to call for electoral reform and a fairer system.

read more

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Corporate Social Networking .. How Cool Is That!

14-05-2010 18:22

Sparkled from some articles posted to Indymedia London recently about Non Corporate Social Networks and a report from the Software Summit that took place in Whitechapel, as well as an audio interview to Eben Moglen of the Free Software Foundation also published to this site not long ago,  I share below some of the reasons why I think corporate social nut-workin is so cool!

 

“To try to own knowledge, to try to control whether people are allowed to use it, or to try to stop other people from sharing it, is sabotage.” – Richard Stallman, 1986.

Desktops, laptops, notebooks, mobile phones, blackberries, I-phones, the list of available devices that allows us to be ‘connected’ in real time seems to increase by the minute. To be constantly ‘available’ online seems to be a primary preoccupation for most people these days, and the big corporations obviously know about this. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Appple … they all compete ‘to help us being in touch’. To be there, to be on the ball, and to make sure we know ’what’s going on’ even before it has actually happened. We don’t need to worry any more, they tell us, we’ll never be isolated again. It is very easy, we only need to go down to our nearest shopping mall or high street, buy the latest gadget, join one of the platforms they offer us and bingo!, we can immediately become someone with a voice and big presence in the web. Set up a Facebook profile and create your own page there, create your Twitter account, put your media in Youtube, Flickr or Myspace, and who knows, before your switch your device off to re-charge it you may even have tens, hundreds or thousands of followers. Not bad eh? You have now become your own DIY celebrity.

It sounds cool and an easy enough thing to do, doesn’t it? But, of course, there’s always a catch. Governments – with the aid of the big buck corporations of course – seem to have had enough of the free for all, open, democratic and horizontal space the web once was, and with excuses such as ‘organised crime’, ‘terrorism’ and ‘piracy’ they clearly now seem bound to enclose the internet once and for all. Legislation that clearly attacks your privacy is being introduced everywhere, and the beauty of being able to freely share knowledge and data with others is also increasingly being treated as illegitimate and ‘theft’, and thus punishable as a crime. Obviously governments and global institutions of governance can’t do this on their own. They don’t even control the internet. But corporations do, and they are increasingly becoming the web’s police force. Your internet service provider is now required by law to log and keep your internet usage for a long period of time, and if they don’t like the way you use the connection they ‘offer’ you they can just legally switch you off. Like an over zealous school teacher that expels you from the class for being too naughty, your ISP can now expel you from the internet for downloading too much data from ‘illegal’ sources, or for sharing too much content with your peers.

But hey, I don’t do anything wrong myself you may think. I am ok. I just use my Facebook and Twitter accounts for very innocuous things. I have a Youtube channel under my name and some Flickr pages too, but these are only for my holiday and party snaps. It doesn’t really mater, they can survey me as much as they like, because there’s nothing there that may interest them. Well, sorry, you are wrong. There’s a lot that interests them in your data. As innocuous you think it may be, it is still data, and this is the prime resource these corporations make big bucks with. Without you putting your videos, photos, texts, audio on these corporate platforms, and without you networking in there or even organising your events – thus legitimising their existence – they would not have the raw material necessary to exist, expand and conquer.

All data you put up in Facebook, Flickr, Myspace, Twitter .. you name it! immediately becomes private property of big business, and thus marketeable as capital’s commodities. They make the bucks, not you, and that’s the primary reason why they are so keen in offering you the possibility to be endlessly connected. Ok, you can argue that this is nothing new as, for example, they already own your labour force anyway. You already have got to work so you can pay your bills, so what’s the story then? Well, one could argue that the story goes like this: your data is not only becoming property of private corporations, but more importantly, increasingly YOU also do! Getting hold of your privacy is one of their main interests. Knowing who you talk to, who are your friends and networks, what do you actually do with them, what are your interests and how do you go about experiencing them, is something they take as raw and primary material to then package it and sell it back to you. Yes, but still, you may argue, I am not doing anything wrong so it doesn’t really matter what they do with my data, besides there’s nothing I can do about it anyway. Ok, put it this way: would you want to install a video camera in your bedroom recording all you do in there, or wire your home with microphones so your everyday life gets recorded and put in databases that, by the way, are totally beyond your control? No? You wouldn’t? Why not? You are not doing anything wrong, are you?

Like most things in life, at the end of the day it is down to us to decide what kind of relationship we want to have with the current state of affairs, and what do we do to try to retain as much control of our lives as we can. And the internet is not a different reality. You ultimately have the choice to continue in the hands of big corporations because it is convenient and easier to do, or, alternatively, you may want to consider to be more careful with what web platforms you use for your everyday communications. The choices are out there for us to embrace. We just need to want to do so.

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URGENT - Middlesex occupiers need help to resist

14-05-2010 17:22

The Middlesex management has just gone to the High Court to try and get an eviction order to evict the occupiers. So bailiffs and police are expected any time. Please come down to support us resist the eviction.

Take the Piccadilly line to Oakwood station, then shuttle bus or walk to Mansion House. Please forward this information.

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This Week In Palestine -week 19 2010

14-05-2010 17:19

Audio
Welcome to This Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for May 1st to the 7th, 2010

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NATO In Afghanistan: World War In One Country

14-05-2010 17:05

Afghanistan has, whether by convenience, design or some combination of the two, been transformed into a vast training ground for the consolidation of a fifty-nation military structure that has already been extended into Central Asia, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, the Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Middle East.

It is also a testing range for new 21st century weapons and combat systems intended for future use around the world.

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Hounslow Community Land Project

14-05-2010 16:40

New Community Land Project in Hounslow

Full article | 1 addition | 2 comments

Sheffield Temporary Autonomous Arts

14-05-2010 15:35

Audio
A couple of interviews and some photos from the Temporary Autonomous Arts in Sheffield which is running till Saturday 15th May 2010.

Temporary Autonomous Arts
Wicker Arches, 1 Saville Street, S4 4UD

Full article | 6 comments

A better internet experience on its way

14-05-2010 15:22

The internet puts your privacy at risk. Two main threats to your privacy are search and social networking.

This is especially true for activists, and effects many thousands of Bristolians/
Thankfully we can fix the search problem easily in just a few moments. Using the http://www.scroogle.org/ you will still get Google search results, just without the spying.

Chrome — Wrench icon > Options > Default search Manage > Add. Paste https://ssl.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/nbbwssl.cgi?Gw=%s

Firefox — and Microsoft IE7 / IE8 — download the plugin for your browser from here http://mycroft.mozdev.org/search-engines.html?name=scroogle

---------------------------

Social networking is a little more complex. There is a promising project just launched to solve the problem, and they are looking for cash to fund the development. If you have a few quid spare then why not donate a little. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-...distr

Check out the video for a fascinating if somewhat geeky analysis of how to solve some of the privacy problems the internet architecture has created.

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Film Night: The Starfish Principle

14-05-2010 15:22

May’s Film Night at the Pierian Centre is the first Bristol screening of The Starfish Principle, a powerful documentary about the fight against poverty and HIV in South Africa. Alex Gater, the film’s editor, will introduce the screening on Sunday 30th May – and the film’s director, Michaela O’Driscoll, will join us on a live link from Cape Town to discuss the film afterwards.
Michaela’s experience working with homelessness and addiction in London scarcely prepared her for the scale of the problems she met in South Africa. As the World Cup focuses global attention on the Rainbow Nation, it’s worth remembering the difficulties it still faces. The reality is that unemployment is running at 25% and South Africa has the highest number of HIV infections in the world. The former archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane said: "Never before in the history of South Africa have such large gatherings of people consistently said 'we have no food'. In a country where huge amounts can be spent on the soccer World Cup…. it is unthinkable that so many can go without food."

Michaela’s reaction to what she found on the streets of South Africa was influenced by her interest in Be The Change, a movement inspired by Mahatma Ghandi. She came across people tackling poverty and HIV in Cape Town who were clearly following Ghandi’s injunction to “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Michaela determined to do likewise – and her film The Starfish Principle is the result.

“We met many people who were making a difference in Cape Town,” says Michaela. “We made the film to alert people to the seriousness of HIV and poverty, but also to inspire them by showing people making a difference where they were and in whatever way they could – people taking responsibility and ‘just doing it’!” The film follows the work of individuals like Mel Novitzkas of Bosom Buddies, and the street ministry and soup kitchens of Pastor John Philmon – people creating a positive change in the communities around them.

Alex Gater, the film’s editor, was impressed by the action and the interviews that Michaela had captured. "I found Michaela's 20 hour footage inspiring to view,” he says, “and I felt that she had done a great job in letting the people speak for themselves. I could see the film inside the rushes, and was privileged enough to be given the chance to carve this vivid film from her photography."

The screening of The Starfish Principle is on Sunday 30th May. The Bar opens at 7pm, and the film starts at 7.30pm. Alex will introduce the screening – and Michaela will join us on a live link from Cape Town to discuss the film afterwards. Tickets cost £5 (concessions available) – and must be booked on 0117 924 4512 or info@pieriancentre.com. The Pierian Centre is at 27 Portland Square, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8SA. The screening is part of Bristol’s response to 2010: the European Year for Combating Poverty & Social Exclusion.

Full article | 4 comments

World wide outrage and anger against Islamic regime of Iran

14-05-2010 15:15

[2010-05-10] Farzad Kamangar: EI Outrage at Iranian Teacher’s Execution
Education International is deeply troubled to hear reports that Iranian teacher trade unionist Farzad Kamangar was among five people who were summarily executed in secret on 9 May.

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Dissident Island Radio - 7 May 2010 broadcast - check it out!

14-05-2010 15:03

Listen to the show, available for download now...

Full article | 2 comments

Direct action? On a boat? Sea Shepherd's got it...

14-05-2010 14:22

Sea Shepherd Wietse, during his brief stint back on land, talked to Dissident Island about the exploits of the Steve Irwin during its Antartica campaign Operation Waltzing Matilda as well as the imminent Mediterranean campaign, Operation Blue Rage...

Wietse, a Sea Shepherd activist, has served on board as part of the crew for two Antartica campaigns now - and this has only strengthened his resolve to continue working aboard the Steve Irwin, doing direct action and intervening at all costs to protect marine life in international waters.

The most recent Sea Shepherd campaign in Antarctica, Operation Waltzing Matilda, managed to save 528 whales from a lethal fate at the hands of Japanese whalers, resulting in the Japanese whaling fleet returning home from the hunting season with 507 dead whales, well short of their quota of 1035.

The Sea Shepherds are now on their way to the start of their first Mediterranean campaign - which happens to be one of the world's most regulated and over-exploited waters. Operation Blue Rage will be primarily to defend the blue fin tuna, which migrates into the region every summer to spawn and is heavily threatened by industrial fishing operations. It is reported that the blue fin tuna will have been fished to extinction by 2012.

In this full-length interview with Wietse, you will hear more details about the recent Antartica campaign, the upcoming Mediterreanea campaign as well as political questions of marine activism and more silly questions like "what did you think of that south park episode?"

So have a listen...

D*I
www.dissidentisland.org

PS: You can sign-up to Wietse's email list to hear the latest from the Steve Irwin:
https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/wietse

Follow Sea Shepherd with daily news updates on the official twitter:
http://twitter.com/seashepherd

At War for the Whales (Zine on personal experiences during the campaign)
http://wwerf.com/prt/whale_war.pdf

Photo's from the Antarctic campaign: http://flickr.com/wietse

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