UK Newswire Archive
Carnival Of Resistance Student Protest This Wed - London
22-11-2010 23:15
Israeli settlment company Ahava shut down again
22-11-2010 21:22
Pro-Palestinian activists blockade the Covent Garden store of dead sea beauty product company Ahava over their complicity in the Israeli occupation and colonisation of Palestine.
Israeli cosmetics purveyor Ahava's central London store was today occupied and closed by pro-Palestinian campaigners. Activists entered the shop just before 11am and locked their arms into plastic tubing enclosed in a concrete filled barrel to prevent their removal from the shop.
Police were called and arrived after 10 minutes. Realising the could not remove the protestors themselves they called on a specialist 'cutting team' to break through the concrete barrel, who managed to remove the activists at 2pm. The activists were then who were then arrested on suspicions of aggravated trespass.
The day was largely peaceful save for ugly scenes at the shop whilst the blockade was established, with one customer racially abusing a Muslim pro-Palestinian activist for the duration of the time, shouting "All Muslims are scum" at her.
Today's action was part of a broader campaign against the company, who operate from the illegal Israeli West Bank settlement of Mitzpe Shalem. Demonstrations have taken place in 13 world cities, in London alone a regular picket of the shop has been ongoing since March and four previous blockades have taken place, with prosecutions for the first three collapsing. This weekend evidence was heard about Ahava's illegal practices at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine.
The next picket of the shop will take place on Saturday 27th November, between 12 and 2 pm.
radiokebele #8 - anti cuts special!
22-11-2010 21:22
The nicest pie is Occupy!A discussion about the cuts, the movement against them, and the future possibilities between:
Jack (Youth Fight for Jobs)
Nigel (Bristol Anti Cuts Alliance)
Sheila (Ex-student churglar)
Millsy's Mischevious Twin (Bristol IWW)
Also features an edited interview with economy guru Will Brown on the current crisis and its similarities to Thatcher's appetite for destruction in the 80's.
Click this link to listen:
http://live1.radiovague.com:8000/archives/kebele/radiok...8.mp3
Songs:
Philip Glass: Vessels (background to Will Brown interview)
Evangelista: Lucky Lucky Luck
Nina Hagen: Hatschi Waldera
Micachu:
Want to comment? Want to be part of the radiokebele Collective? Email radiokebele AT riseup DOT net
Hats off to the UWE students and other potential occupiers - go get 'em!! :-0)
Sat 4 Dec - Call-out for vibrant "No Nuclear" bloc at London Climate March
22-11-2010 20:24
- National Climate March, London, Sat 4 December 2010
Notts Save Our Services Demo 2 The Speeches etc
22-11-2010 19:23
On Saturday 20th November, hundreds of folks gathered for a demonstration / protest march in opposition to the governments cuts to welfare, public service, care etc etc .... [oooops sorry, I meant the governments public spending review].
Gathering at the Forest ground, the march started at around 12noon. Proceeding down the Mansfield Road more people joined, perhaps 2 - 3000 eventualy marching and arriving in the market Square.
There were many kids protesting at the proposed closing of the Gedling School and Specialist Science College. http://savegedlingschool.wordpress.com They were given pride of place at the front of the march.
Aside from the Trade Union contingent, I was impressed by the broad spread of ages and groups involved. This one of the biggest protests in Nottingham for some years and certainly the biggest on this issue. It is hoped that this is a momentum that can be maintained.
Nottingham Unison Demo Re: cuts for school support staff
http://notts.indymedia.org.uk/articles/603
Nottingham Vodafone "not paying their taxes" Demo
http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/649
Details of forecoming events at:
Notts Save Our Services | Defending jobs, services, welfare ...
http://nottssos.org.uk
____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email: tash@indymedia.org
Web: http://digitaljournalist.eu
Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
___________________________________________
<ends>
Action against cuts continues in Notts
22-11-2010 19:23
Resistance to the age of austerity has continued in Nottingham. On Wednesday night/Thursday morning, vandals struck at Conservative Party offices Nottingham, breaking windows and scrawling graffiti. On Saturday, more than 1,000 people marched from the Forest Recreation Ground to Market Square in a protest organised by Notts Save Our Services.
On the newswire: 1100 march in Nottingham against austerity | Notts Save Our Services Demo 2 The Speeches etc | Notts Save Our Services Demo 1 The March | Notts SOS Demo November 20th | Smashed Windows & Graffiti @ Conservative Offices | Tory offices in Nottingham smashed | Anti-cuts demo November 20th
A statement was posted on Indymedia on Thursday, claiming responsibility for the vandalism. This stated that the attack was "in solidarity with those arrested for being at Millbank, and all people who are getting fucked over by the cuts and capitalism on a daily basis." This is the latest in a wave of incidents of anti-cuts political vandalism in Nottingham. Previous targets have included County Hall and local bailiffs. According to local rag the Post, there was also a similar incident at the offices a week earlier.
Saturday's demonstration was the first major protest organised by Notts Save Our Services and comes only 7 weeks after its launch. Organisers claim 1,100 people were in attendance, with the numbers swelled by opponents of the closure of Gedling School.
The campaign against the cuts continues. There is the national student walk out against fees on Wednesday, supported by students at Nottingham University, a march in support of Gedling School on Thursday and a "protest against corporate tax evasions" planned for early December. In January, Notts SOS plan to hold a conference to work out a wider strategy.
Benefit for Ian Tomlinson Family Campaign this Saturday (27th).
22-11-2010 18:55
http://www.myspace.com/pressganguk It will be a benefit for the Ian Tomlinson Family Campaign:
http://www.iantomlinsonfamilycampaign.org.uk/ As its on a Saturday we'll have Micky Vespre spinning the decks with a couple more bands to be announced.
Notts Save Our Services Demo 1 The March
22-11-2010 18:27
On Saturday 20th November, hundreds of folks gathered for a demonstration / protest march in opposition to the governments cuts to welfare, public service, care etc etc .... [oooops sorry, I meant the governments public spending review].
Gathering at the Forest ground, the march started at around 12noon. Proceeding down the Mansfield Road more people joined, perhaps 2 - 3000 eventualy marching and arriving in the market Square.
There were many kids protesting at the proposed closing of the Gedling School and Specialist Science College. http://savegedlingschool.wordpress.com They were given pride of place at the front of the march.
Aside from the Trade Union contingent, I was impressed by the broad spread of ages and groups involved. This one of the biggest protests in Nottingham for some years and certainly the biggest on this issue. It is hoped that this is a momentum that can be maintained.
Nottingham Unison Demo Re: cuts for school support staff
http://notts.indymedia.org.uk/articles/603
Nottingham Vodafone "not paying their taxes" Demo
http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk/articles/649
Details of forecoming events at:
Notts Save Our Services | Defending jobs, services, welfare ...
http://nottssos.org.uk
____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email: tash@indymedia.org
Web: http://digitaljournalist.eu
Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
___________________________________________
<ends>
Heterosexual equality bid in Bristol
22-11-2010 18:24
Application for hetero civil partnership tomorrow (Tuesday)A heterosexual couple, Ian Goggin and Kristin Skarsholt, will challenge the legal ban on straight civil partnerships by filing an application at Bristol Register Office this Tuesday, 23 November.
This is part of the wider Equal Love campaign that aims to challenge sexual orientation in UK marriage and partnership law, organised by Outrage! and co-ordinated by Peter Tatchell.
Straight couple will apply for a civil partnership
Discrimination against opposite-sex couples challenged
Tuesday 23 November 2010
A heterosexual couple, Ian Goggin and Kristin Skarsholt, will challenge the legal ban on straight civil partnerships by filing an application at Bristol Register Office this Tuesday, 23 November.
They are demanding “heterosexual equality.”
The denial of civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples is, they say, “unjust, discriminatory and offensive.”
Mr Goggin and Ms Skarsholt expect to be turned down by the registrar but they plan to get the rejection in writing, with view to taking legal advice and appealing against the refusal in the courts.
Skarsholt and Goggin are both Bristol-based students. Kristin (22) is studying Arabic and Ian (21) is studying music technology. She was born in Norway and he in Ireland. They’ve been in a relationship together for two years.
The couple’s bid is part of the new Equal Love campaign, which is seeking to overturn the twin prohibitions on gay civil marriages and heterosexual civil partnerships.
Kristin and Ian are the fourth of eight couples who will file applications at register offices across the country, in an effort to overturn the “sexual segregation” in civil marriage and civil partnership law.
The Equal Love campaign is organised by the gay rights group OutRage! and coordinated by the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
Mr Tatchell will join Kristin and Ian this Tuesday, 23 November, when they apply for a civil partnership in Bristol.
Mr Tatchell commented:
“We seek heterosexual equality. In a democratic society, everyone should be equal before the law. There should be no legal discrimination. The twin bans on gay civil marriages and on heterosexual civil partnerships are a form of sexual apartheid. There is one law for straight couples and another law for gay partners. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
“Denying heterosexual couples the right to have a civil partnership is discriminatory and offensive. We want to see it ended, so that straight couples like Ian and Kristin can have the option of a civil partnership. I salute their challenge to this unjust legislation,” he said.
Ian Goggin (21) said:
“We want a civil partnership for two reasons. It better reflects our relationship, and we can’t condone the baseless discrimination between civil marriages and civil partnerships.
“We seek the security and stability of a legal commitment, without the necessity to be associated with the language and culture of marriage. I don’t identify with this culture, and cannot think of Kristin as my ‘wife’. She is my partner, we work together, sharing responsibilities.
“We believe in access to civil partnerships for all. The similar Pacte Civil de Solidarité in France is extremely popular, with 95% of those taking it up in 2009 being heterosexual couples.
“A key reason we won’t get married is that we don’t want to take part in an institution that excludes our homosexual friends. We feel a fair society shouldn’t countenance this kind of hurtful sexual orientation discrimination and hope this campaign can go some way towards challenging such discrimination,” he said.
Kristin Skarsholt (22) added:
“It is important for me to be recognised as a ‘partner’ to Ian, and for him being acknowledged as a ‘partner’ to me; rather than him being ‘the husband’ and me being ‘his wife’. A civil partnership is a better reflection of our equal relations and our love for each other.
“Having both civil marriages and civil partnerships open to everyone is an important part of the struggle for equality. It recognises the universality of love, commitment, stability and security.
“We should all have the right to choose the institution that best reflects our relationship.
“Segregating gay and straight couples means that people of different sexualities are not being treated equally before the law,” she concluded.
Ian and Kristin are being advised by the Equal Love campaign’s legal advisor, Robert Wintemute, Professor of Human Rights Law at Kings College London.
“By excluding same-sex couples from civil marriage, and different-sex couples from civil partnership, the UK Government is discriminating on the ground of sexual orientation, contrary to the Human Rights Act,” said Professor Wintemute.
“The twin bans violate Article 14 (protection against discrimination), Article 12 (the right to marry) and Article 8 (the right to respect for family life).
“The rights attached to civil marriage and civil partnership are identical, especially with regard to adoption of children, donor insemination, and surrogacy. There is no longer any justification for excluding same-sex couples from civil marriage and different-sex couples from civil partnership. It’s like having separate drinking fountains or beaches for different racial groups, even though the water is the same. The only function of the twin bans is to mark lesbian and gay people as inferior to heterosexual people,” he said.
UWE Under Occupation!!
22-11-2010 18:24
Today at around 4pm a group of students marched on the main Frenchay campus of the University of the West of England to occupy the main building.The occupation has taken place in protest at rising fees and cuts at the University. Spokespersons for the protest say that it is in solidarity with staff and students across the country as well as for future generations who will be squeezed by the cuts.
Today at around 4pm a group of students marched on the main Frenchay campus of the University of the West of England to occupy the main building.
The occupation has taken place in protest at rising fees and cuts at the University. Spokespersons for the protest say that it is in solidarity with staff and students across the country as well as for future generations who will be squeezed by the cuts.
Last year the University announced initial cuts and restructuring that have, in the most recent turn of events, resulted in the elimination of 80 senior research and middle management posts.
The students publicity announces their opposition to the changes affecting UWE, opposition to the announced tripling of tuition fees and against more general cuts across the sector.
“Steve”, spokesperson for the occupiers, and student at the University, says ‘we’ve occupied the heart of the University, so far with great success. We’ve got a whole range of events planned for tonight, including a sound system. Turnout has been really good which will give a strong message to the University and the government that we will oppose their attacks at every turn in every school, college’
A range of activities has been announced for the next week including a lobby of the Board of Governors on Tuesday to protest specific cuts at UWE building up to the national walkout on Wednesday.
“Anthony”, a third year student at UWE says, ‘the fact we have to pay for education at all is a sin, its absurd that we have to fight to keep the situation from getting any worse’.
The concern expressed by the students extended beyond their own immediate interests and have extended to broader issues of social welfare and opportunity.
“Paul”, a third year studying social sciences the cuts and fees ‘will stop people like me, from my sort of background from going into higher education, harms social mobility and increases social inequality’
The occupation is ongoing and updates will be added.
Student legal defence fund.
22-11-2010 18:24
In light of the victimisation of students involved in the millbank protest, youth fight for jobs has set up student defence campaign and a legal defence fund to try to help students with legal costs and to find sympathetic barristers and solicitors.For those in need email youthfightforjobs@googlemail.com for more info.
Burngreave New Deal for Communities waist £4.5 million of public cash..
22-11-2010 18:20
Sorby House, on Spital Hill bought and refurbished by Burngreave New Deal for Communities at a cost of £4.5 million may have to be closed and sold - for as little as a quarter of its value.Ratcliffe conspiracy to trespass trial opens today
22-11-2010 17:23
18 months after 114 people were initially arrested at the Iona School in Sneinton, 20 climate change activists have begun a month-long trial today. They were originally arrested on 13th April 2009.
On Monday 22 November 2010, they have appeared to answer charge at Nottingham Crown Court: that they conspired together to cause aggrevated trespass at the Radcliffe Power Station. The trial is expected to last 4 weeks.
On Monday 22 November 2010, they have appeared to answer charge at Nottingham Crown Court: that they conspired together to cause aggrevated trespass at the Radcliffe Power Station. The trial is expected to last 4 weeks.
Mass Arrest of 114 Climate Activists in Raid in Nottingham
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/427471.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/427496.html
Today has largely been taken up with agreeing a timetable for the progress of the case. Arguement about whether legal representatives are to visit the Ratcliffe site. The defence would like to, to get a 'feel for the location'. The prosecution thinks this un-neccesary, since no one was arrested there. E-on didn't want to co-operate with this visit, health and safety implications etc ... The swearing in of the jury has also now been completed. Opening statement from counsel will begin tomorrow.
>> Statement from their blog:
Supporters gathered outside Nottingham Crown Court holding signs which read, "I would stop emissions too".
Anyone in the Nottingham area who would like to meet the defendants or help out can come along to the SUMAC centre (NG7 6HX) each evening after the trial at 7pm for dinner at People's Kitchen.
The arrests were thought to be the biggest ever pre-emptive arrest of environmental activists. The defendants are charged with Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Trespass for planning to safely shut down Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station for a week and in doing so stopping 150,000 tonnes of CO2 from being emitted. While they admit the intent, they maintain that they are not guilty of of a crime.
The defence will show that the activists acted out of necessity, to prevent death and serious injury. According to official sources, 300,000 people per year already lose their lives due to the effects of climate change and half a billion are at "extreme risk". (http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/publications/v.php?id=9668)
Rebecca Quinn, 32, who was one of those arrested in April but later had the charges dropped, said, "Climate Change is hitting those least responsible for it the hardest. Low-lying island nations are already seeing salt water encroach on their farm land, and in recent years we have seen an increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Coal is the dirtiest method of electricity generation, and must be stopped. To avoid a climate crisis, we must put people before profit. In the face of government apathy and the failure of the Copenhagen conference, it is ordinary people taking direct action who are desperately trying to avoid a bleak future of flooding, drought, crop failure and water shortages."
James Hansen, the high profile scientist who is the Head of NASA's Goddard Institute, is one of the many expert witnesses who will testify during the trial at Nottingham Crown Court. The leading climatologist will guide the jury through the complexities of climate science and explain how coal burning is jeopardizing the lives of millions.
Caroline Lucas MP, Leader of the Green Party will give expert evidence about the failure to achieve action on climate change domestically and within the EU parliament through more conventional political means. It will be argued that the defendants had no alternative but to physically stop the power station emitting CO2, having exhausted other channels such as lobbying, campaigning, and attending marches.
The defendants are a diverse mix of people of varying ages from 21 to 45. Living across the UK, they work in teaching, science, computing, and many other areas. 114 people were originally arrested on 13th April 2009, but most subsequently had their charges dropped.
For regular updates on the trial see http://ratcliffeontrial.org/blog
>>
Notes from the previous trial held at Nottingham Magistrates Court from 14 – 16th January 2008
Ratcliffe Power Station : Court Case Reporting
[addionally, this post contains some collected links to past coverage of the issues surrounding the Ratcliffe Power Station and concern about its operations]
http://notts.indymedia.org.uk/zines/670
http://ratcliffeontrial.org
the trial continues etc.........
____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email: tash@indymedia.org
Web: http://digitaljournalist.eu
Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
___________________________________________
<ends>
Palestine Today 11 22 2010
22-11-2010 16:41
Dissident Island's 70th episode ready to download
22-11-2010 16:22
The latest Dissident Island Radio show is ready to download - featuring an interview from activists producing radio during the recent anti-nuclear action in Germany, a bit on the Siege of London and the upcoming exhibit above Freedom Bookshop, the recent Fitwatch blog shut-down, pirate radio legend Tetsuo Kogawa hailing from Japan, Hackney Benefits Collective on upcoming gigs, Bristol's Radio Kebele and so much more...
Read on for more info or click here to listen to the show...
On Friday, 19 November 2010, the Dissident Islanders got together over more beers, during the Red & Black club, to broadcast their 70th episode live and direct...
The show starts with an interview from two radio activists, Andre and Flo, who came together with many others to form Radio Freie Wendlands providing radio via internet and FM broadcast live and direct during the recent anti-nuclear anti-CASTOR actions in Germany. All their material is available to download, so if you speak German, you're in luck!
Rob came in for a chat about the upcoming exhibition above Freedom Bookshop on the Siege of Sidney Street - which will feature interviews with working class east enders, historians, anarchists, academics, children and police officers to tell the exciting story in a interactive non linear manner. The exhibition will open at the start of February 2011 - a date for your diaries and something to check out. A Freedom Bookshop volunteer also let us know the upcoming exhibition schedule and that they're looking for submissions...
Next up on the show is a piece on the recent Fitwatch website shut-down, with a look at the relationships between corporate internet providers and state/police repression and surveillance. Thoughts and words on the subject came from Fitwatch Emily, IMCist@ Yossarian and London NoBorders. For more information on internet security, check out this PDF version of a hacktionlab booklet on that very topic!
This show's HOT TOPIC: students. Work-shy good for nothings? Or the best thing since the last best thing? Some opinions from random punters on the streets and other not so random people dragged down from the mainhall of LARC to discuss the upcoming mass walk-out on 24 November, as well as what the latest word is with the students...
Anja interviewed Tetsuo Kogawa on Japan's microradio history - discussing his history in radio (content and hardware), ideas on internet and pirate radio. Elucidating and contextualising words from a radio legend to alternative media enthusiasts and folks interested in free and radical broadcasting!
The newly formed Hackney Benefits Collective also came in to chat about what they'll be up to and future gigs you should check out and there's also a short interview on Bristol's answer to anarchist radio: Radio Kebele.
Tunes, banter, announcements and jingles pepper the show - with one of the island's favorites... DJ Delsa of total niceness and NSBradio fame, on the wheels of steel to end.
So check it - download the show and have a listen! [MP3 | OGG]
And if you like what you hear, subscribe to our low-volume show announcement email list here and RSS feed to keep in the D*I loop...
london catholic workers new project opened yesterday
22-11-2010 16:22
london catholic workers are part of a worldwide radical catholic movement started nearly 80 years ago in america. they have set up nearly 200 houses of hospitality for the poor, the homeless, and the dispossessed, mostly in america, but spreading into european and other countries too. yesterday saw the official opening of another house in east london.
yesterday's opening of the of the 'guiseppe conlon house' was attended by around 200 people including a wide mix of refugees, advocates, punks, hippies, vicars, activists, lawyers, squatters, academics, muslims, christians, atheists, buddhists, musicians, locals and internationals. the internationals introduced themselves in a welcoming ceremony with representatives from outer hebrides to japan, kosovo to france, and sweden to uganda among many others.
the house has already been functioning as a refuge for undocumented refugees and others in need of shelter and support, but the main building (originally a methodist church, then taken over by catholics and more recently disused for two years) has now been officially opened both as a continuing shelter and as a community facility.
the new centre is named after guiseppe conlon, who was the father of gerry conlon, who at the age of 21 was one of the four irish men wrongly convicted for the guildford bombings in the early seventies. despite no connection to the IRA, and sound alibis for gerry and one of the others, it took until 1989 for human rights lawyer gareth peirce to finally get them released, and another 16 years until the british government offered an apology when for political reasons tony blair made a surprisingly unreserved statement.
gerry was beaten in police custody until he made false confessions implicating completely innocent members of his family, and as a result guiseppe, an ex-marine, was arrested in london where he was trying to find a solicitor for his son. he was not a well man, and died, a convict, in prison in 1980. his widow sarah was charged £3500 to fly his body home, and the home office billed her for his repatriation - his body was flown back and forth four times as the press shamed him, before he finally rested
he was the only one from the guildford four, birmingham six, and maguire seven, who didn't live to be vindicated and see his freedom. his treatment remains a terrible blot in the dark history of irish repression.
the catholic worker communities, as well as offering shelter to people suffering injustice and violence, are also pro-active in seeking out and confronting the roots of those injustices. catholic workers have been involved in acts of challenging civil disobedience, and one of the organisers at the new centre was imprisoned for 13 months in the US for taking a hammer to a B-52 bomber. the hammer was returned on his release and was later used against BAe in the UK, returned once more, and used again in a recent ploughshares action.
after an opening welcome ceremony and a song from irish singer/songwriter joe black, the human rights lawyer gareth peirce took the stage to wish the project well and to movingly describe her experience of the lies and corruption around the guildford four and gerry conlon's family, the maguires, and guiseppe.
after more music from local duo, lovers electric, ciaron o'reilly spoke more about the project and the difficulties he has faced as an anarchist catholic - untrusted by the left as a catholic and untrusted by the catholic establishment due to his anarchist way of doing things and his past incarcerations in various nations round the world for acts of non-violent civil disobedience.
poet stephen hancock then provided some excellent conscious and political verse, before angolan journalist, rosario miranda, spoke about the campaign for justice for jimmy mubenga. jimmy was the man who during a forced deportation was killed at the hands of GS4 security aboard a passenger flight to angola. passengers, though concerned by the blood, his screams for help, and the violence of the guards, were either too intimidated or too disempowered to intervene. rosario compared the media attention some woman got for putting a cat in a bin - the cat survived, the woman was hounded, she lost her job, she was prosecuted and she was villified. in contrast, the GS4 officers remain in work, no-one was prosecuted, and the newspapers have forgotten the matter. he asked poignantly whether the cat was more precious than a black man?
joe black, who travelled from dublin then provided a full set of songs, including a special one written to celibrate the opening and to commemorate guiseppe conlon, and finally local singer raz ended the formal entertainment.
before and after the timetabled events, there was a huge spread of donated food and drink, and more entertainment from the 'bow creek ramblers string band'.
the guiseppe conlon house intends to continue its work with homeless refugees, and to act as a hub for non-violent resistance to the war machine.
for more information, including news of the current campaign to close down the "army shop" recruiting centre in a shopping mall in dalston, see the london catholic worker website.
Dissident Island - download the latest show!
22-11-2010 15:23
Dissident Island Radio - EPISODE 70 - 19 November 2010 - this episode features:
- Fitwatch website shut-down, internet providers and the state. Thoughts from Fitwatch Emily, IMCist@ Yossarian and London NoBorders
- Andre and Flo from Radio Freie Wendlands on the recent anti-nuclear actions in Germany
- Tetsuo Kogawa on Japan's microradio history and ideas on the internet and pirate radio
- Rob on the upcoming exhibition above Freedom Bookshop on the Siege of Sidney Street, a legendary piece of East End folklore
- HOT TOPIC: Students. Work shy bastards? Or the best thing since the last good thing?
- Another gem from the London Anarchist Bookfair recordings - Michael Albert telling us about Participatory Economics [check out london imc article for more video/audio]
- Newly formed Hackney Benefits Collective
- Radio Kebele
- the usual announcements, banter, music and...
Closing the show we have some heavy tunes from one of our favourites - DJ Delsa of total niceness and NSBradio will be in the studio spinning the wheels of steel...
-CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD MP3- (149MB)
-CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OGG- (102MB)
Check it,
Breaking news... SOAS Occupied...
22-11-2010 15:22
A building at SOAS (School Of Oriental and African Studies) in London has been occupied. No to cuts!
More to follow...
Women Say No to NATO
22-11-2010 15:22
Women of four antimilitarist networks went on the London streets on Saturday 20 November 2010 to tell the Heads of State assembled at a NATO Summit meeting in Lisbon: Disband this aggressive war-fighting nuclear-armed alliance now. Military security does not mean security for women. Read more below.
If those T-shirts look a bit size XXXL, well, they had to cover up a lot of warm undies. Even then it was chilly. But we think we got the message across. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a Cold War dinosaur. It's an aggressive, ever-expanding, war-fighting and nuclear armed alliance clearly intent on world domination in the economic interests of the USA, the UK and other relatively rich nations. Far from being a source of security it's a menace to peace.
We took to the streets on Saturday 20 November to send a message to the NATO Heads of State assembled in Lisbon, Portugal. As women of four antimilitarist networks, Women in Black, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp and Trident Ploughshares, we wanted to tell them: ‘No to your new Strategic Concept. No to revamped Missile Defence. No to upgraded nuclear weapons. It's time to disband NATO and disarm Europe'.
Why women? Acting in partnership with women in Italy, Germany and elsewhere, we were making a feminist case against NATO. Military expenditure steals money from the education, health and housing services badly needed by women, who carry the main burden of domestic life in NATO member states as they do worldwide. In war, women suffer displacement, rape, loss, injury and increased responsibilities. NATO's war in Afghanistan is a case in point. Military installations and factories, like the base planned for Vicenza in Italy, are a source of social stress in neighbourhoods, of toxic pollution, sexual exploitation and violence.
To women ‘security' means something very different from military security. It means livelihood, well-being and freedom from violence both in war and everyday life. Marie Walsh had travelled from Wales to take part in this action. ‘Guns and bombs and wars don't make me feel safer,' she said. ‘They have the opposite effect. It's ironic that NATO troops are called security forces when what they create is just the opposite.'
Marie-Claire of WILPF feels ‘Women's voices aren't heard enough. Things might be different if they were part of decision-making on policies that set agendas globally'. Angie, of Trident Ploughshares, added ‘I want NATO to end now so our society can move beyond violence, war and enemies, and encourage non-violent conflict resolution. I'm here to demand a return to our lost humanity and the rule of international law.'
We would be happy to end our set of T-shirts to any group of feminist antimilitarist women who would like to mount an action with them. Contact us at <wibinfo@gn.apc.org>
