UK Newswire Archive
Globalise Resistance! Smash The G20!
10-11-2010 09:18
SMASH SEOUL, SMASH THE G20!PROTEST/ACTION 2 – 6 pm FRIDAY 12th NOVEMBER, SOUTH KOREAN EMBASSY, LONDON.
ANTI-G20 SOLIDARITY. CAPITAL KNOWS NO BORDERS, SO WHY SHOULD WE?
To Shorten Winter's Sadness
10-11-2010 08:22
Concert of Renaissance Christmas Music at St Michael's Church, Broad Street'To Shorten Winter's Sadness: 16th and 17th Century music, words and song for Christmas and Winter'
The programme consists of ballads, lutesongs, carols, consort music, madrigals and readings and follows the religious calendar from Advent to the beginning of Lent. It also describes many of the festive customs of the time, with feasts and revels through the cold of winter, and fairs upon the frozen river.
Includes music by Byrd, Gibbons, Weelkes, Hume, Peerson and East and readings from Shakespeare, Stow, Herrick and Evelyn.
Performed in Elizabethan costume by Passamezzo www.passamezzo.co.uk
Eleanor Cramer (Soprano, Bass Viol);
Chris Goodwin (Lute, Gittern, Bass);
Alison Kinder (Viols, Recorders);
Tamsin Lewis (Violin, Viols, Alto);
Michael Palmer (Actor, Baritone)
Sun 12 December St Michael's Church, Bath
3pm Tickets £10 (£8 concessions) from 07980 516054
Peace Held Hostage to Rotating US, Israeli Elections
10-11-2010 08:09
Once and again, then again and again, U.S. and Israeli elections bring about new players and governments that renege on the commitments, pledges and promises of their predecessors vis – a –vis the Arab – Israeli conflict in general and the Palestinian – Israeli peace process in particular, with an overall effect of being much more harmful to peace making than any forces of ‘extremism.”UG#523 - Ivan Illich & The Collapse of Power
10-11-2010 03:46
Social war in France: In the heat of autumn (photo-roman)
10-11-2010 03:32
Bonne lecture !
Stephen Williams MP drops his pledge on scrapping fees
10-11-2010 01:22
Never trust a politician eh?I write in relation to your recent front page article. As a parent of a child studying for A-levels, who hopes to go to university in due course, I like many parents was very worried by the recent Browne review on higher education funding. So I thought I'd write to my MP Stephen Williams to ask if he was maintaining his anti-fees position. That was some weeks ago. I finally got a reply on Monday, along no doubt with many other enquirers. His reply to me/us also went up on his website that day. And guess what?
The original pledge you quote from http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/pages/fees.html is no longer so easy to find on his website, where it was originally listed under 'Key Issues', but has been replaced by his new position. However if you do a search the pledges are still there. Like here for example - article on his site from 16/11/2009 http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/news/000466/williams_....html
Which begins: "Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West, signed a pledge to voters ahead of the forthcoming general election that he will vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament." Sounds good doesn't it!
Not any more...his new position on Fees under 'Key issues' is at http://www.stephenwilliams.org.uk/pages/tuitionfeesandg....html
It starts: "I signed the National Union of Students (NUS) pledge in November 2009 because I have always believed that we need a fairer and more progressive model of University funding. The platform on which I stood for election in May 2010 was of course the Liberal Democrat Manifesto, which after the election was superseded by the Coalition Agreement." Read that again wont you...so the man stands for election on a list of policies...but ditches them within a week of the election. Trustworthy or what? The LibDem manifesto, on which people voted for them, all of a sudden gets ditched...as soon as they get a sniff of power. So now we know its true - never trust a politician. Bye bye Stephen Williams. Stuednts and students to be...go get him!
His new, flexible, brown-nosing position continues...
"The Government’s response to Lord Browne’s review of higher education funding demonstrates a commitment to increasing participation by young people from poor backgrounds:
* Fees capped at £6,000 for most universities, £9,000 in exceptional cases
* Graduates will begin to contribute to their undergraduate fees when they earn £21,000, rather than the current £15,000 threshold – this will reduce the monthly amount that all graduates pay
* Graduate contributions will be paid for thirty years at a rate of 9% on earnings over £21,000. The outstanding debt (£18,000 in most cases) will continue to have a zero real rate of interest for graduates earning less than £21,000. For graduates earning above that level a real rate of interest will apply, up to a maximum of 3% of the rest of those earnings in excess of £41,000. This clearly means poorer graduates might pay nothing at all while well paid graduates will pay considerably more than their undergraduate fee
* The top earning 30% of graduates will pay back more than they borrow and are likely to pay more than double the bottom 20% of earners
* Measures will be put in place to prevent richer graduates contributing less than their poorer counterparts by paying off their fees early
* £150m for a National Scholarship Programme for young people from deprived backgrounds
* Universities that choose to charge a higher graduate contribution than the £6,000 threshold will be obliged to participate in the National Scholarship Programme – possibly by matching the Government’s funding
* Sanctions will be imposed on universities that do not widen participation and access for poorer students
* More help with living costs for lower income students – an increase of £350 to the maintenance grant for students from families earning up to £25,000
* More help for students from middle income families – an increase in the threshold for support to £42,000 and an increase in maintenance loans for students from families earning £42,000-60,000
* Part-time students, who tend to be older or from more deprived backgrounds, will be entitled to enter the graduate contribution scheme on the same basis as full-time students - a major positive change that corrects a long standing anomaly
* Universities will have to publish the information that students and parents need - contact hours, teaching patterns and employment outcomes
* Overall the lowest earning 25% of graduates will pay less than they do at present
Under the tuition fee system introduced by Labour:
* Poorest and richest graduates pay exactly the same
* Graduates have to start paying back when earning just £15,000
* Part-time students have to pay upfront fees (part-time students are 40% of all students)
* Labour failed to reform system which entrenches disadvantage:
-In 2009, 50% of young people from the most advantaged areas entered higher education compared to 20% from the most disadvantaged areas
-The number of poor students attending top universities has not significantly changed since the 1990s
My entire political career I have championed social mobility and the need to tackle inequality; I grew up on free school meals and do not doubt that the support I received at school and university enabled me to be in the position I am today. Unfortunately, with the increase in the number of people attending university and the budget deficit the Coalition inherited from the previous government, it is simply not possible to fund a free higher education system for everyone. However, I strongly believe that the Coalition’s education policy will ensure that young people are able to go to university regardless of their parents’ income. Through the Pupil Premium the Coalition will ensure that children from poor backgrounds receive extra support in school and our new funding model for university will mean that poor students will continue to be supported throughout their undergraduate years and into their graduate careers.
I made it clear in the run up to the general election that I had no philosophical objection to graduates making a financial contribution to their degrees. But I argued that a contribution scheme should be progressive and related to graduate earnings; I think the government’s proposals meet my objectives. The other issue that I have always shared is that we must go further to encourage young people from poor backgrounds to access university. The announcement of the new National Scholarship Scheme with £150m government funding is certainly a huge improvement. But before deciding whether the government had gone far enough I want to see the detailed rules for universities providing matching funds and for their fair access policies. It is only at that point that I will be able to support the government.
I hope that this email has been useful to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further comments or questions."
Yours sincerely,
Stephen.
Stephen Williams MP
stephenwilliamsmp@parliament.uk
Obama backs India’s bid for permanent UN Security Council seat
10-11-2010 00:58
"Obama explicitly criticized India for not slavishly following Washington’s self-interested and selective human rights campaigns. Routinely governments that are viewed as obstacles to US interests, be they Iran, Cuba, or Zimbabwe, are pilloried for their repressive polices so as to isolate and destabilize them, while the crimes of authoritarian regimes that are US allies, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, are excused and covered up—to say nothing of the horrific crimes perpetrated by the US military, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan."Medialens: WikiLeaks - The Smear and the Denial - Part 2 - The Denial
09-11-2010 23:17
The UK and US media smears described in Part 1
http://sheffield.indymedia.org.uk/2010/11/467342.html should be kept in mind when considering the gravity and importance of the latest WikiLeaks. In addition to thousands of previously unreported civilian killings, the leaks revealed more than 1,300 claims of torture by Iraqi police and military between 2005 and 2009. More than 180,000 people were detained at some point between 2004 and 2009, or one in 50 Iraqi males.
Justice for Bety and Jyri: killed by paramilitries in Oaxaca
09-11-2010 22:45
On April 27th, in the vicinity of the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, a humanitarian observation mission was attacked by members of the paramilitary group UBISORT, Alberta Cariño Trujillo and Jyri Jaakkola were killed in the attack.Rising Tide Strategy Session
09-11-2010 22:22
Bristol and Bath Rising Tide Strategy SessionBristol and Bath Rising Tide Strategy Session
Saturday 13th November, Kebele 11:30am-5pm
Created for people already involved in Rising Tide, we'd welcome anyone who already knows a bit about what we do and are seriously interested in getting involved.
We will start off with a Kebele brunch, then go upstairs for a day of reflection, analysis and strategy making. This is not an ordinary meeting; it's about asking big questions, looking beyond the horizons, turning the impossible on its head and increasing our potential.
It is the 10th anniversary of Rising Tide, so there will be birthday cake.
Ps. Don't miss our benefit gig with Seize the Day & Clayton Blizzard on Thursday 18th November at the Old Fire Station (7pm, £4)
Crabgrass Skillshare
09-11-2010 22:22
Hands-on "crabgrass" skillshare.Hi folks,
Wondered what everyone is going on about with this 'crabgrass' thing? Maybe
your group is already using it but you're feeling a little left behind?
On the 24th of November from 7 - 9pm we will be running a hands-on
skillshare about Crabgrass at Kebele. If you didn't know, Crabgrass is an online networking tool specially designed for social organising/'activists' by those lovely people at riseup. It is already in use by 100s if not 1000s of groups across the world, many of whom find it really useful.
In the skillshare we will cover:
- logging in
- creating a group
- making editable pages
- starting and contributing to a discussion
- uploading images, videos, audio
- as well as general troubleshooting of any issues you may have
You dont need to bring a computer but if you do have one you are able to
bring it would be useful.
Please email 1984@resist.ca if you are intending to come.
See you there!
Nate & Mole
X
More smashing radion from Dissident Island - 5 Nov show ready to download...
09-11-2010 21:57
Check out the latest Dissident Island Radio show...Scandalous police repression against anti-nuclear activists in France
09-11-2010 20:04
Activists from the French nonviolent direct action group GANVA were seriously injured and hospitalised by police while being cut out of lock-on tubes during a blockade of a train transporting nuclear waste between France and Germany. Immediately upon their release from hospital, they were held in police custody for 24 hours. They will go back into custody until their trial next month if they do not pay bail of €16,500 by 15 November.We either take now or stay the same.
09-11-2010 17:57
Phil Woolas continues to linger around Westmister like the bad smell he is but astonishingly Labour MPS have rallied to his authoritarian racist cause.National United Kingdom Census – 2011
09-11-2010 16:47
Proof the wars in Iraq and Afghansitan are fuelling muslim terrorism
09-11-2010 16:42
Anti-war activists have said for a long time that invading Iraq and Afghansitan has fuelled Islamic extremism and Islamic terrorism here at home. Well now here is the proof. Islamic fanatics here in the UK have put together a video to tell the British people why they hate Britain.Nuclear and Radiological Terrorism
09-11-2010 16:22
Local MP apears to vote the right way but what's the outcome?“From this basic power of the universe,
there is no protection.”
Albert Einstein
The picture is of soil and debris samples being collected from the
bombing site by the Uranium Medical Research Center’s
(UMRC) field team during the second field trip outside Bibi
Mahro district, Afghanistan, 2002.
Of course this adds to yet one more danger to be endured by all who are their be it soldier or local.
The other week I wrote to my MP. It was a Steve Williams, apparently someone thrust upon me when the last ‘local’ MP Kerry ‘criminal’ McCarthy did a runner from my patch after the electoral boundaries were juggled around just before that last election; (one in which her party deliberately ignored court rulings and demonstrated another breach of people’s human rights by not allowing prison inmates to vote.)
Anyway back to my letter to Williams.
I wrote asking him to support and sign ‘Early Day Motion’ (EDM) 825.
This is what it said:
That this House notes that the British Army maintains depleted uranium
(DU) munitions within its arsenal and that 1.9 tonnes of DU rounds were
fired by UK forces during Operation Telic in Iraq; recognises the
continuing news stories emerging of higher rates of childhood leukaemia
and birth defects in Iraqi cities since the conflict began;
acknowledges that the Ministry of Defence has released to the United
Nations Environment Programme the coordinates where UK forces fired DU;
is aware that US armed forces expended at least 404 tonnes of DU
ammunition in the 1991 and 2003 Iraq conflicts but have yet to release
the firing coordinates to the UN; appreciates that without full
transparency it will remain impossible properly to monitor and
decontaminate which in turn will lead to avoidable civilian exposures;
and calls on the Government to support the resolution to be put before
the UN General Assembly this autumn calling on states to provide
quantitative and geographical data on DU munitions use to the relevant
authorities of the affected states.
Without the firing coordinates, it will remain impossible for effective
clean-up operations to take place where DU has been fired. Iraq is a
good example of where hundreds of tonnes of DU have been expended, but
without the US releasing the information required, radioactive and
toxic contamination can persist for generations. In the cities where DU
has been used, local hospitals report cancer and birth defect
epidemics.
Now it seems he voted in support – I think –‘cause I never heard back.
Thing is what now? Is anybody about to take any notice and do anything?
A good start would be to immediately put a halt on any further use. For example – Afghanistan.
Read about Depleted Uranium here:
Film Screening: 9/11 Press For Truth
09-11-2010 15:25
This Saturday, November 13th from 4pm onwards at Passing Clouds, Dalston.
Reliance Security muscles in on animal rights
09-11-2010 13:24
A security company is trying to attract business by protecting companies from animal rights protests.