UK Newswire Archive
Second Night of No Deer Kills in Richmond Park
03-11-2010 23:29
Yesterday evening, anti-hunt activists were again patrolling Richmond Park in London with the aim of preventing any deer being shot in the proposed cull.Foreword 2010 Pakistan Decapitation Papers – A Report on the Banality of Evil
03-11-2010 23:10
Noriwch demo against Vodafone's tax evasion
03-11-2010 22:40
Stop corporate tax evasion costing your public services
Brookside Anniversary article
03-11-2010 21:57
Brookside has 2 Anniversarys this week, its 28th since starting back in 1982 & its 7th Anniversary since it ended in 2003.Time for David to tell MI5 to take a step back
03-11-2010 21:49
David Cameron says the Government's review of counter-terrorism powers is "heading for a f*****g car crash." It's his job (or should be) to avert the crash by telling MI5 to get its hands off the wheelFreeskilling - no freeskill next week (9 Nov). Next freeskill - 16 November
03-11-2010 19:22
Tuesdays 7pm, Better Food Company, Sevier Street, St Werburghs, BristolHi,
Freeskilling is taking a break next week (9 November).
It will be back on 16 November with an Introduction to Shamanism, with Kat Demeter
The principles of Shamanic practices can attune us to the Powers and Energies of Life in a way understood by our Ancestors and still woven into the daily lives of many Indigenous Peoples. Please bring a small item that has meaning for you, eg feather, stone, crystal, picture. Please bring another small item to be given away, eg chocolate, feather, home made bread, crystal etc.
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER PROGRAM
23 November Russian, French & Welsh Conversation
Want to say a few words in Russian? Or French? Or Welsh? Meet our trio of linguists and try out some words and phrases in small, informal groups. With Rachel Miller, Charlotte Rimaud and Bryn Davies
30 November How to be Successful in Life
Identify what success means to you and how you can achieve more of it in your life. The session will look at what it is to be successful and how to get there. With James Hodgkinson
7 December Conscious Communication – How to say what we really want
Look at how we speak and listen based on what we feel and need. Learn how to adapt our language patterns to communicate more honestly, effectively and connectedly. Works immediately! With Laurel Pyne
14 December Laughing through Christmas
Need a safety valve this Christmas? Want to get ready with good strong laughter muscles? Want to enjoy the seasonal festivities? If so, this session has your name on it. With Joe Hoare
Freeskilling be taking a break over Christmas and resuming on 4 January 2011. To share your skill, please contact the Freeskilling team at freeskilling@gmail.com
Dublin students demo rows with cops and attacks Dept of Finance
03-11-2010 19:11
Riot police attacked students in Dublin today with dogs, armoured vehicles and horses after the students protesting against government cuts occupied the Department of Finance and threw eggs at the Dail.The PCS can in words just fuck off..
03-11-2010 19:10
Many workers and the unemployed are fed up with the TUC’s decision not to call a national demo against the Cuts till 5 months after the spending review. The PCSU are now pushing for a big London demo on december 11th. Here’s the info from the PCS NEC meetingDublin kicks off, UK crap... as usual
03-11-2010 19:08
"Students occupy Dept of Finance in DublinNews is coming in that upwards of thirty students have occupied the Department of Finance in the center of Dublin with several hundred supporting them in the streets outside. Tens of thousands of students are demonstrating as part of the USI protests against plans to introduce fees, these students carrying out the occupation appear to have broken away from the main demonstration which is taking place around the corner in Merrion square."
repost from Irish indymedia
STUDENTS CURRENTLY OCCUPYING DEPTFORD TOWN HALL IN CUTS PROTEST
03-11-2010 18:37
Currently ongoingOne of the lads
03-11-2010 18:18
Over the past few weeks the UK’s activist movement has been rocked by the revelation that an extremely active person within its ranks, who had been at the heart of many major direct action campaigns, was in fact an undercover policeman.
After being confronted by former friends, Mark ‘Stone’, whose real name is Mark Kennedy, confessed that he had been working undercover since 2000. He has since disappeared.
At a meeting at the London Anarchist Bookfair, those who’d known Mark revealed that he had been active in ecological, animal rights, anti-fascist and anti-capitalist movements. Mark was involved in setting up the direct action camp in Stirling during the G8 protests of 2005 and the first climate camp amongst other things. He was also thought to have been making links with activists across Europe and, possibly, the USA.
Because it is not often that someone so deeply embedded in activism is comprehensively outed in this way, we would do well to learn from the experience. The temptation is to become suspicious of those around us but this only weakens the strong trust that is needed to carry out effective campaigns. Whilst there will always be the possibility that agents of the state will infiltrate our networks of trust, if we can learn to be aware of the warning signs and the tactics they use, we can be more secure.
Those who had been close to Mark said that he had never spoken to them about large periods of his life. In addition, no one had ever met the family members that he claimed to have spent considerable amounts of time visiting. But perhaps more importantly than these warning signs was the realisation that very few people had ever had a political conversation with him.
He was always there to lend a helping hand, whether it was driving people and equipment or employing his climbing skills, but it seemed people took for granted the reasons for his involvement. It seems ridiculous that people would consider getting involved in serious political campaigns with people whose politics they were unclear about. It seems obvious, to me, that before embarking on anything we might regret, we should make an effort to get to know the beliefs and motivations of those around us.
I came across Mark on a few occasions, at large gatherings and events. I have to admit, I never really liked him much, despite many others going on about what a great guy he was. He was a very macho man – always showing off his hardcore activist credentials and taking an atmosphere of bravado around with him. He seemed very attuned to informal hierarchies, seeming to seek out other Big Men and looking for the in-crowds. His big mouth instantly made me suspicious and guarded around him, not because I thought he was a cop, but just because I thought he was indiscrete.
Looking back, it’s obvious to see that not only was Mark extremely good at making people trust him, his personality was perfect for getting tongues wagging. He was the kind of person who I can imagine encouraging others to brag about daring actions and someone who seemed like he’d be up for future ones. He was one of the lads; people didn’t feel the need to talk about his politics or his background because he was someone whose approval others sought.
That this machismo is extremely dangerous and destructive for activism should be obvious. Even when the Big Man isn’t a cop who is making a mental note of (and possibly recording) your every word, there are often good reasons why information about your activism should stay private. In a worst case scenario you could incriminate yourself and others but even if you don’t, there is always a risk to the security of your future plans. Serious activists shouldn’t talk loosely, spurred on by the thought of gaining the approval of people they assume to be more experienced or more daring than themselves.
Then there is the issue of why the hell anti-authoritarians should allow these informal hierarchies to exist in the first place. Quite frankly, why the hell should anyone care whether Mark or anyone else approves of what they’re doing, as long as they and their affinity groups are happy with it? Too often young and green activists with a lot of potential become disillusioned because they aren’t “in the loop” of older and/or (they imagine) more active people.
This striving to rise higher in the world of activist credentials is damaging and divisive. Most activism that goes on in the UK is not rocket science. We shouldn’t be chasing after some illusive mystique of the ‘bigger boys’. Anyone can do it themselves which is why it is, potentially, a very powerful thing. I think that being more open with new people, passing on a good security culture and empowering them to act is a good way of getting rid of the illusions of expertise that persist. It will also protect us from future infiltrators.
The case of Mark Stone/Kennedy has revealed a serious weak spot in activism – the tendency to form self-affirming cliques around hypermasculine values of daring, risk-taking and violence. It was through his role as an alpha male that Mark was able to rise through the ranks so effortlessly and gain so much trust and respect. This is very damning of the values that many within the supposedly progressive activist community hold. If there is one thing that we should learn from this sad case it is that we need to demystify masculine power within activism. We need to see this dominatory and predatory tendency for what it is and eradicate it, totally, from the movement.
This article was originally published in Ceasefire Magazine.
Work Weekend
03-11-2010 18:17
Need your helpWe would welcome a few helping hands so the house is ready to start running in december.
There is plenty of work painting, decorating and gardening (bring tools for the last if you can).
All the rest of the equipment and tea will be provided.
Join us on 486 Fishponds rd. And between many certainly we will have a nice weekend.
Friday 12/11/10 9:30-17:30
Saturday 13/11/10 9:30-17:30
Sunday 14/11/10 13:30-17:30
THANKS IN ADVANCE!
Mamane Barka – the last Master of the Biram
03-11-2010 18:17
In a world of fusion and cross-over, Mamane Barka and his Biram stand apart. The Biram is the traditional instrument of the nomads of Lake Chad – and Mamane Barka is the last master initiated into its mysteries. This is the real thing! And you can catch it at the Pierian Centre in St Pauls on Saturday 6th November.Mamane Barka returns to Bristol after the success of his sell-out concert last year. It’s not just the music of this extraordinary boat-shaped instrument that fascinates, it’s also the beliefs that surround it and the central place it occupies in the spiritual lives of the nomadic fishing Boudouma tribe. The Biram is protected from the east by the spirit of the lake Kargila, and from the south, west and north by the spirits of the desert. Only initiates can play it – and after long rituals of purification Mamane Barka was taught the instrument and its traditions by the last surviving master, who has since died. Luckily Mamane Barka is not only a master musician, but a gripping story-teller and a great ambassador for his instrument.
The Biram is without doubt an endangered species amongst instruments. Barka bemoans the loss of interest among the youth of his country. “The young people don’t want the Biram now. They don’t want traditional music – not just the Biram but all traditional music. My country is full of important and very good music but the young people want rap music, or to learn the guitar or the piano or the saxophone. I am only doing this now, going around the world with the Biram, to get the youths to love the culture.”
The sounds of this ancient instrument evoke the rippling waters and rustling reed beds of Lake Chad – and they combine with the talking drums of fellow griot Omar to produce “a hypnotic triumph of last-ditch musicology” (Lucid Culture). This unique meeting with another world takes place on Saturday 6th November at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £8 – 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.
Meeting- cake and research!
03-11-2010 18:17
An introduction to the importance of research in campaigningThe arms industry is shrouded in secrecy for obvious and not so obvious reasons.
We will talk about research and our map of the arms companies in Bristol.
MEET at the Smiling Chair info library on Stokes Croft next to Sprinters the printers at 6pm.
Lets put our ideas into action
Radio Kebele. Show 7
03-11-2010 18:17
Last show up in the interwebnet!very up to date last program, don.t miss it.
http://live1.radiovague.com:8000/archives/kebele/radio2...1.mp3
The Day of the Dead affinity group blockade at Devonport
03-11-2010 18:04
ME Sufferers banned from giving blood
03-11-2010 18:03
ME sufferers are now banned from blood donation but are the only group banned who receive no medical treatment for their condition. They say that the ban is due to a new Retrovirus discovered in their blood.
Sweatshop Manufacturing: Engine of Poverty
03-11-2010 18:02
"Inequality has reached such an astounding level that it requires an act of willful blindness on the part of Western media not to notice it. Over half of the world’s population subsists on less than $2 a day, while the 200 richest individuals own more wealth than 41 percent of the world’s population, or in other words, more than 2.6 billion people. Such an extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of the few cannot be construed as a failure of global capitalism. Indeed, it is a mark of its success, for this is what the system is designed to do."Palestine Today 11 03 2010
03-11-2010 17:52
