UK Newswire Archive
Down the Drones Conference
31-03-2012 16:55
Bristol is hosting a conference both against the growing use of drones in war and from corporate arms companies selling drones. Bristol Against The Arms Trade sets out the case against drones and war.
Over the last few years the use of unmanned drones has grown and grown. Offering the controllers the ability to project force anywhere in the world without the risk of loosing any personnel, the attractions for the military are clear. Yet there is growing evidence that the drones are far from the surgical strikers the military claims they are, for example the operators often make mistakes which result in the killing of civilians. The huge rise in their use has meant lots of dead bodies yet with little to no due-process or control of the assassinations. It has also meant rising anger in the regions blighted by their use. For example the US military admits that it targets people who simply pass by the results of an attack, claiming they must be linked to the original target, yet more often, they are not. The use of drones has gone from a rare military technology to commonplace in both military and policing circles. Questions need to be asked! Bristol Against The Arms Trade Present – Down the Drones Conference – Sunday April 1st 2012
1pm - 6pm at the ARC bar/cafe Broad St Bristol
Maya Evans – She has just returned from Afghanistan on a peace delegation with Voices for Creative Nonviolence and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers. Maya amongst other things won “a partial victory” in the High Court, when it ruled that Afghans detained by British forces could no longer be transferred to a detention centre in Kabul run by Afghanistan’s intelligence agency (NDS), because of the risk of torture.
Joanne Baker - Co-author of Uranium in Iraq: The Poisonous Legacy of the Iraq wars. From the charity Child Victims Of War Joanne will be talking about the weapons of modern warfare and their deadly legacy on civilians.
Chris Cole – Possibly the most educated activist on the growing usage of drones in modern warfare, co-author of Convenient Killing: Armed Drones and the Playstation Mentality. Chris from Drone Wars UK is going to speak about the growing use of drones in conflict around the world.
Smash EDO - Is a Brighton-based grassroots campaign against EDO MBM/ITT – a company that makes bomb racks, release clips and arming mechanisms for warplanes and drones. Smash EDO activists have carried out numerous direct actions and demonstrations against EDO’s Brighton arms factory. Someone from the campaign will be speaking about war, arms manufacture and direct action.
Bristol Down The Drone Conference is part of a build up towards the Bristol UAV conference on April 2nd 2012. We will be resisting the drone conference with a noise demo
Tory MPs' memo planning to 'humiliate' unions with 'our Thatcher moment'
31-03-2012 14:46
Due to lack of time article copy-pasted from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/31/petrol-crisis-thatcher-moment-tories
Smash EDO Summer of Resistance infonight at London Action Resource Centre today
31-03-2012 13:45
Saturday the 31st of March, 4pm at the London Action Resource Centre,62 Fieldgate Street, London: Summer of Resistance info talk. Come
along to learn more, get an affinity group together and get involved.
(Nl) Billboards call for M31
31-03-2012 07:30
Bristol Responds to Anti-Squatting Bill
31-03-2012 02:55
In response to the Government's moves to criminal squatting in residential properties people gathered in Bristol on Friday to protest against the passing of the Legal Aid Bill. Around 30 to 40 protesters meet outside Metropolis on Stokes Croft (another empty property, which if the Government has it's ways, would be left to rot in the interests of property speculators). Comrades from The Red & Black Umbrella in Cardiff even came over to Bristol to join the protest!At 2:30PM people set off down the street, taking the road and displaying a banner which read: "Whatever They Say, Squatting Will Stay!"
Energy, Climate and Cuts: A Fork in the Road
30-03-2012 22:45
We are living in a world where the effects of energy systems on society are becoming more crucial by the day and ignoring them will become more and more difficult. This statement while true is, in some ways, very misleading. It is not the case that energy has become more important to the functioning of society – it has always been one of the most important factors. However, the wave of extreme energy extraction methods that is sweeping across the planet, driven by rising energy prices and constrained supplies, is forcing similarly rapid changes in the world around us.Smash EDO: Upcoming events
30-03-2012 20:42
Just a a quick reminder of some Smash EDO related events happening in the next few days.An Interview with Ed Greens: ‘Screaming Revolution’ & Palestine
30-03-2012 20:07
Chile: Day of the Combatant Youth (photos)
30-03-2012 18:48
Saboteurs chain metro gates open for fare strike, New York (USA)
30-03-2012 15:43
"Rank and File Initiative" chained open the gates of 20 underground stations allowing passengers a free ride in New York (USA), March 28Indefinite Internment Without Trial
30-03-2012 15:12
'If they come for me tonight they will come for you in the morning' – Angela DavisIn Britain today there are a group of men held in prison without trial or any form of due legal process, and they are being detained indefinitely. These men have committed no crimes in Britain and are being held at the behest of a foreign state, the U.S., whilst their extradition to that country has been ruled unlawful by the British court. Their continued imprisonment, in breach of the most elemental civil and human rights, has clear implications for every citizen in the U.K. because if the rule of law is suspended in the case of any unpopular minority then dangerous precedents are set that will eventually be used against anyone or any group viewed as worthy of 'special measures'.
Glasgow Picket Against Holland & Barrett Workfare Sat. 31st 12 noon
30-03-2012 13:47
Saturday 31st March
Meet 12 noon outside the front entrance of St Enoch's Underground Station to move on to the Workfare target - Holland & Barrett 9 Queen Street, Glasgow, G1 3ED.
Barcelona engulfed in flames (Spain)
30-03-2012 12:24
March 29th General Strike causes chaos, Spain, paralysing capitalist economyClashes on Day of the Combatant Youth (Chile)
30-03-2012 12:18
The Day of the Combatant Youth, March 28, ChilePeru: Solidarity action with Tortuga and the Security Case prisoners (Peru)
30-03-2012 12:12
claim by "FAI-IRF/Group of Revolutionary Cells of Informal Organisation/Cell of Iconoclastic-Insurrectional Action" for solidarity action with anarchist prisoners in Chile Luciano Tortuga and Juan, Fredy and Marcelo.Anarchist(s) beats anti-terror cop (Greece)
30-03-2012 12:03
claim by "Anarchist Cell of Revenge" for March 25 beating of G.Mourdoukoutas of the DAEEB (Anti-Terrorist Force), KallitheaA Night Of Whalepunk In Sheff - Sea Shepherd Benefit!
30-03-2012 11:32
http://www.seashepherd.org/