UK Indymedia - UK Newswire Archive

"Indignez-vous!" 600,000 sold, shaking France &world (Translation here) Hessel

15-01-2011 05:48

Perhaps the timing of the book, released during troubled times of economic crisis and inequality has rung a bell for the people of France. Maybe it’s the fact that the author is a holocaust survivor almost a century old -- former spy, escapee from a concentration camp, then Resistance fighter for the rest of WWII -- which lends credibility to his message. Maybe it's the poetic prose. Whatever the reason, Indignez Vous! by Stéphane Hessel is the #1 bestselling book on Amazon.fr, and has been for some time. The book has sold over 600,000 in just three months.

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Tunisia...some bits you may have missed

15-01-2011 01:50

Brief run-down of latest events & links

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Officer 'B' revealed as Cardiff based 'Marco' Jacobs

15-01-2011 00:03

A third undercover police officer has today been revealed by the Guardian. Mark Jacobs, known as 'Marco', operated in Cardiff for four years, infiltrating the Cardiff Anarchist Network (CAN) and other groups including international anti-globalisation networks, No Borders, and the early Climate Camps.

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Bristol undercover?

14-01-2011 23:22

With the second Undercover exposed
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/471994.html?c=on...62690

And now third in Cardiff
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/472102.html?c=on...62747
People will surely be asking themselves about who we have in Bristol.

It might be worth reading the guide to exposing such people
http://northern-indymedia.org/zines/viewer/1174

This statement bears repeating
"One thing though, if you've got suspicions keep them to yourself and work on them until you know. Actually, genuinely know. Worse than anything is false accusations - that's way more damaging than what the police manage."

I found some of this speculation interesting
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/471994.html?c=on...62690

You can narrow it down easy enough. 14.01.2011 13:06

Splitting it into two things: grasses & undercover. The former is just twats who respond to the loca/regional plod, take the money and hand over timely information. Of course they could do this for years, but they usually have to traipse down to the station each time which up the risk.

Anyhow, the latter has always going to have certain traits. Minimum age to choice the porkers - 18. You're looking at around 10 years service before they could reach the point of being selected, trained and dispatched as a long term undercover. They have to know it'll work as it costs a lot and they need to make their money back. One of the main uses has got to be in working out accurate policing levels - if you know only 10 people are turning up to a demo rather than 200 you don't cancel leave and pay 200 odd pigs double time plus for the weekend. Couple of bits of information like that and you've paid your wo/man's wages for a year.

Back to spotting them. This means they're not going to be under the age of 28, but play safe and drop it to 26. Anyone who turns up out of the blue with a recently rented flat / recently NFA who's 26-40 might expect to raise suspicions, especially when they've got a unique selling point., and they always need a unique selling point - cash & a van for PC Kennedy, medical skills for PC Lyn. Let's face it, if you don't get active a couple of years either side of 18, you're unlike 90% of activists, and if you turn up as one of those 10% with no contacts, then you need a way in.

Obviously if they never have a sexual partner, then that's a stand out. And it the case of them being outed like now, if you slept with them, come forward so their families can read all about it. Somewhere in the UK, PC Lyn is fearing some very awkward moments with her other half. If that pig who infiltrated various AFA groups and keeps giving vox pops in the media is to be believed, they specifically select people who are married to guard against them going native or forgetting where their imaginary line is.

One other being that the handler needs to keep the porker convinced they are a porker and not a normal person. Coppers marry coppers, work with coppers, socialise with coppers & generally have a hard time acting like normal people. That's why you can't spot half of CID from 1000 paces: they can only stand at ease or to attention. And what is it with those Gortex jackets and boots? You're supposed to look like a Saturday shopper, not someone on a mission. Anyhow, to keep the undercovers half sane, they have to haul them back to be amongst other coppers and remind them who they are. Same thing with making sure they spend time with the other half and kids. That means they have to disappear frequently - sick relative, work, some such shit.

If you've got suspicions, push their back story. 90% they base it on real life, but with modifications. Could be their life altered, but often a friend or partner. If you've ever had a lengthy customs grilling, that's exactly what they do: ask you the same questions about tedious details of your life. If you're making it up, sooner or later you slip up or change your story. Ask the questions casually, spread out over weeks as you're not strapped for time like customs officials are.

They'll likely use a real first name - possibly with a different spelling - as it's way easier to remember and you don't risk accidentally answering to the real name by mistake. She's down as 'Lyn' here, but I'd put money on it being Lynne. So if Lyn/Lynne said she did subject A at University Z, check the Alumni records 2 years either side of her supposed age. Or use the day and month the given birthday but a different year. Again, far easier to use your real day and month - you don't risk mentioning a birthday present, celebration, etc. which is out of sync - but a fake year of birth. The 192 info disks are good too, plenty of old electoral roll things for checking supposed histories or actual ones.

Remember, these people don't respect us professionally, so they get sloppy. They're in very little danger, there's no weapons, no more serious criminality than the rest of society. It's pretty much a training ground, and a fairly dull one at that. The likes of PC Lyn will be likely fucking their way through some gangsters at the minute. Well, until a few days ago anyhow.

One thing though, if you've got suspicions keep them to yourself and work on them until you know. Actually, genuinely know. Worse than anything is false accusations - that's way more damaging than what the pork manage.

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Bath Bomb #36 Out Now

14-01-2011 23:22

In This Issue:
Senseless Violence! Bah Humburg! No Ifs, Some Cuts! E.M.A. - No Way! Doling Out Abuse! Wikileaky Roofs! The Leaning Spa Of Bath! Charlie & Camilla Hitty Stick Makeover! Palestine! 'Prince' Andrew Opens His Big Mouth! The Usual Suspects! Pixelated Graphics! Gratuitous References To Burning – Without A White Hood! 100% Recycled Taglines

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Solidarity Demonstration for the 'Thessaloniki 4'

14-01-2011 22:26

A group of around 30 people demonstrated today at the Greek Embassy in London following a call by the London Thessaloniki Solidarity Group. This demonstration coincided with the start of the second trial in Greece of the four remaining defendants that face sentences raging from 4 to more than 8 years after they were arrested, beaten up and fitted up during the anti-EU Summit demonstrations that took place in Thessaloniki in June 2003. Read more ....

One of the defendants is Simon Chapman, a UK protester that, along with the other defendants, maintain their innocence. Video and photographic evidence clearly shows how a rucksack filled with petrol bombs was planted next to Simon at the moment of his arrest in 2003. As a result, him and 6 other protesters were imprisoned and held on remand. They became known as the 'Thessaloniki 7', and they started a hunger strike that lasted for as long as 63 days to force their release [timeline] Hundreds of solidarity actions took place all over the world, including several in London [video] and all over the UK [full lists 1 | 2]

After all the charges were dropped in 2004, the prosecutor of Thessaloniki appealed against the earlier decision to drop the charges in 2005, resulting in the charges being reinstated. Legal arguments continued for more than two years, and a trial date was finally set for January 2008.

The first trial took place and found the defendants guilty passing sentences of between four and eight and a half years for charges including "distinguished" and "repeated" rebellion, possession of explosives, resisting arrest, and causing explosions. The second trial was due on September 2010 but it was eventually adjourned until the 14th January 2011.

Out of the original 'Thessaloniki 7', three have so far had their cases resolved. The remaining four will have their future decided this week in a Greek Court. The 'Thessaloniki 4' are:

Simon Chapman, Britain
Suleiman "Kastro" Dakdouk, Syrian origin
Michaelis Triakapis, Greece
Fernando Perez Gorraiz, Spain

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Suggestions for activists when using 'Social Media' like Facebook

14-01-2011 22:21

A very brief outline of some suggestions which social activists could use when using social media such as Facebook or Flickr.

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Britain's war on Islam

14-01-2011 21:23

Western vilification of Islam is longstanding, cruel, and unjustifiable. Notably post-911, they've viciously targeted Muslims for political advantage. Throughout America, continental Europe and Britain it rages, harming innocent men and women. With no regard for democratic values and justice, they're bogusly charged and imprisoned for crimes they neither planned or committed. Yet supportive media reports convict by accusation, the public unaware that supposed threats were lies, yet it repeats endlessly.

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Bristol Against Arms Trade Also Going For The Banks - 22nd January

14-01-2011 21:22

Rolling Picket of High Street Investors In the Arms Trade
“UK high street banks have come under fire
for their role in causing the economic meltdown.
But the lack of regulation which led to the current
crisis is also behind an even deadlier scandal.”
A new report by War on Want, Banking on Bloodshed:Highlights UK high street banks’ complicity in the arms trade, and has exposed, for the first time, the extent to which the five main British high street banks are funding this violent trade. By directly financing their production, these banks are complicit in the havoc and destruction caused by the deadliest weaponry the world has ever seen.

Most high street banks are violating their own corporate social responsibility (CSR) statements.

Barclays:
• Holds, by far , the largest amount of shares in the global arms
sector , with £7.3 billion invested in total.
• Ranks amongst the top 10 largest investors in US arms
companies.
• Serves as principal banker for three arms companies:VT
Group, Cobham and Meggitt.
• Has been part of 50 syndicated loans to the arms sector
over the last 10 years and has invested in and gives loans to
companies that produce cluster munitions and depleted
uranium munitions.

HSBC:
• Holds shares in the global arms industry totalling £450.6
million.
• Serves as principal banker to two arms companies: BAE
Systems and Meggitt.
• Has been part of 43 syndicated loans to the arms sector
over the last 10 years worth £27.1 billion and has invested in
and gives loans to companies that produce cluster munitions
and depleted uranium munitions.

Royal Bank of Scotland:
• Holds shares in the UK arms sector totalling £36.4 million.
• Serves as principal banker to four arms companies: BAE
Systems, Rolls Royce, Babcock and Ultra Electronic.
• Ranks as the world’s leading creditor to the arms sector ,
having participated in 52 deals over the last 10 years worth
£44.6 billion, including loans to producers of cluster
munitions and depleted uranium munitions.

Lloyds TSB:
• Holds shares in the UK arms sector totalling £717.5 million.
• Serves as principal banker to BAE Systems and QinetiQ.
• Has been part of 40 syndicated loans to the arms sector
over the last 10 years worth £33.3 billion, including loans to
producers of cluster munitions and depleted uranium
munitions.

Halifax Bank of Scotland:
• Holds shares in the UK arms sector totalling £483.4 million.
• Serves as principal banker to two arms companies: Babcock
and Chemring.
• Has been part of six syndicated loans to the arms sector
over the last 10 years worth £1.2 billion.

read war on wants report banking on bloodshed

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Keep Europe Out of the Tar Sands

14-01-2011 20:20

Today several activists, including some from Oxford, visited the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills with a simple message - Keep Europe Out of the Tar Sands.

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Protest against the government - central London Jan 19th 4pm

14-01-2011 19:41

Everyone to the streets!

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InfoUsurpa 17th -23rd January 2011

14-01-2011 19:22

InfoUsurpa brings you next weeks events happening in London's autonomous spaces and beyond...

Print it, distribute it, stick it on a wall where others can see

x

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Tunisian people power topples dictator!

14-01-2011 18:42

TUNISIAN dictator Ben Ali has been toppled from power in an historic day for the North African nation - and the world.

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Ruling Class Tosser Dies Of Motor Neurone Disease, May He Rot In Hell

14-01-2011 17:39

David Hart a Class Warrior (ruling class that is) dies at 66 after a long and debilitating disease. Is there Karma? has it run over my Dogma?

Well Thatcher still lives (barely)

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Tunisian Uprising Wins Concessions From US-Backed Elite

14-01-2011 17:15

US-backed Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is making concession after concession to a spontaneously created protest movement, in a desperate attempt to cling onto power in the North African country. Solidarity protests have been held in neighbouring Algeria, and support for the Tunisian 'bread intifada' is growing throughout the Arab nations. It seems likely that such demonstrations will spread internationally, amongst equally impoverished populations.

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Bristol Anarchist Reading Group

14-01-2011 16:22

First Meeting Sunday 23rd Jan, 2pm. Online Forum also available.
This is a callout to start a Bristol Anarchist Reading Group (BARG)
To start with, the aim of this group will be to strip away strategies, tactics, and related struggles, to try and agree the basic AIMS of the 'Bristol Anarchism' that we are creating between us, here, today.
From there, the hope would be to build practical foundations that we all agree on, so that then it will be easier for us to accept and respect different strategies to our own, and still accept them as anarchist.

Only then will we be able to be truly constructive in our criticisms of them.

The direction, location and timing of future meetings will be decided by those who attend.

The first meeting will concentrate on the following proposal:

“One of the core values of Bristol Anarchism is anti-oppression. From this starting point grow the strategies of horizontal self-organisation, not participating in elections, safe spaces, fighting fascist groups, consensus decision making, ‘no leaders’, animal rights, multiculturalism, confrontation of patriarchy, racism and other bigotry.

All of the above list are therefore not core values of anarchism, they are strategies of anti-oppression. ."

The first meeting will take place at Kebele Social Centre, BS5 6JY, from 3 to 5pm, on Sunday 23rd January.

An online forum has been created to submit reading material, catch up with the ongoing discussions, plan future meetings, and create their own debates.

The site is on Crabgrass, and if you don't already have one, you will need to create a free account to join here:

https://we.riseup.net/account/signup

Once you're signed up, you can join the group here:

https://we.riseup.net/barg

We hope that more than ‘the usual suspects’ will feel comfortable in attending and making their voices heard, otherwise ultimately it will be a waste of time.

If people want to link to (or even better, write themselves) relevant texts, then they can put them up on the BARG site. Remember, shorter articles or extracts have much more chance of being read than long ones!

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BNP byelection setback

14-01-2011 15:51

The BNP's share of the vote in yesterday's Oldham East and Saddleworth byelection went down. Another sign of a fascist party in disarray.

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Notts Chief Constable in rapid handwashing

14-01-2011 15:23

Julia Hodson, Chief Constable of Notts Police, is demanding an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the collapse of the trial of 6 people charged following the pre-emptive arrest of 114 environmental campaigners.

The soon to be sacked top copper can’t afford another black mark on her cv while she is job hunting so she is using the old bluffers technique of calling for an enquiry to bolster her claims of lack of involvement in the trial collapse fiasco.

Trouble is Julia, there is evidence that your officers have been playing with the big boys from the National Public Order Intelligence Unit for some time. NPOIU's Ian Caswell frequently snoops on environmentalists from Notts, whether locally or when they attend protests such as climate camp or Earth First gatherings.

Last year Caswell was seen ‘liaising’ with Notts police officers who were filming and photographing people attending a peaceful demonstration in the Market Square. Caswell was not photographing and his interactions with, and the response of the Notts coppers, looked all the world like a close working relationship.

So, hundreds of Notts coppers raid a school in your patch on a bank holiday, on a tip off from a snitch who works for the same undercover unit as people your officers are known to liaise with and you claim to know nothing about it?

Now we know Notts Police are seriously underperforming according to their own targets but it is difficult to believe their communications are that bad!

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Cameron's Geordie Welcoming Party

14-01-2011 15:22

David Cameron was welcomed to Newcastle's Centre for Life today by people angry about the cuts: including students, workers, and benefit claimants. One protestor was arrested.

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Rage Against the Bankers ! [1]

14-01-2011 15:22

Protest in Bristol on Saturday Jan 15th against Bankers outrageous bonuses
Meet Castle Park, top of Union Street, Bristol. Saturday January 15th. 1 pm. March on a bank !

The Right to Work Campaign is calling for a wave of protests against the Tories’ surrender to the bankers and the outrageous awards of huge bonuses to some of Britain ’s richest men.

Bob Diamond’s £8 million bonus at Barclays and Stephen Hester’s £2.5 million at RBS are an insult to every ordinary person in Britain . But we know they are just the tip of the iceberg.

Meet Castle Park, top of Union Street, Bristol. Saturday January 15th. 1 pm. March on a bank ! Full article.

| Rage Against the Bankers! | http://www.righttowork.org.uk |