UK Newswire Archive
UK’s soft policy towards Sri Lankan President criticised
12-06-2012 12:19
“Appearing at events such as [Queen Elizabeth's Diamond] Jubilee is a PR gift to heads of state with poor human rights records, giving the impression that they're just like any world leader. It also encourages a sense of impunity,” writes British journalist Joan Smith, criticizing the presence of Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations last week.John Bowden - Yesterday's Day of Action
12-06-2012 09:19
http://leedsabc.org/another-attempt-to-sabotage-john-bowdens-parole-by-prison-hired-social-worker/ , http://leedsabc.org/update-from-john-bowden-about-lies-written-by-prison-hired-social -worker-2/ , http://leedsabc.org/support-for-john-bowden/ , http://leedsabc.org/corrupt-social-workers-attempt-to-rid-themselves-of-prisoner-john-bowden/ , http://leedsabc.org/end-lies-and-corruption-in-edinburgh-criminal-justice- services/ , http://leedsabc.org/lying-prison-social-worker-invited-to-audition-for-pinocchio/, http://leedsabc.org/lying-prison-social-worker-has-future-career-prospects-dashed/, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496835.html, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496617/html, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496784.html The pictures below show a banner-drop in Leeds and images of some of the many cards and other items sent to Barnett and his corrupt cohorts.
Phone and twitter blockade of EDO today
12-06-2012 09:08
Phone and twitter blockade of EDO. The one last month was a real success so we're having another one! You can participate from wherever you are.Why not ask EDO and @ITTExelis more about their business?
Australia jails duped Indonesian children with adults for “people smuggling”
12-06-2012 02:28
Almost all Australians have no sympathy for those they perceive as people smugglers. I do not blame Australians for that because they don’t know the real story about why they end up in Australian waters. I believe Australians know only what journalists tell them through the media.The real story of the people who crew the boats is that they are lied to by the Mr Bigs, the organisers, who have little sense of responsibility towards them.
Boycottdogs4us They didnt know what hit them
11-06-2012 23:58
Olympic ASBO arrest @ Windsor Eco village
11-06-2012 22:55
Today our friend Simon was arrested under the first Olympic ASBO. Here is some background...
On Saturday a group of us marched to Windsor to show an alternative to our "system of crisis" by starting an eco-village on derelict land on the Crown Estate. We intend to grow food, live sustainably and restore and build structures in a responsible way. In the spirit of The Diggers of 1649 we announced our bold plan publicly.
From the moment we set out from Syon Lane community allotment on Saturday we were tailed and followed by the police, photographed and generally harrassed in a passive aggressive manner. One of my fellow diggers said that they were 'alright' but I pointed out that if a random person followed you on a walk for two days taking pictures of you, you might find it more than a little disconcerting.
The crown estate took out an injuction on ALL of the crown land in the whole of Windsor which, alhough still a civil matter, would make the process of having us removed by bailiffs or indeed arrested much quicker. We would also have been arrested for contempt of court and not tresspass which holds a much longer prison sentence.
Our plan A site turned out not to be disused, which was a mistake on our part so we headed to plan B to be greeted by a crowd of cops and were marched out of Thames Valley into Surrey and Runnymead where we set up a temporary site for the night.
After the crazy rain, leaky tents and general madness of the last few days a few of us came back to town re-group and blog about what had happened. Simon and a few others headed into the woods on Crown Estate. We were going to meet with them later in the week and drum up interest for a second wave. Then at 2pm we received a call that Simon had been arrested under the terms of a previous Olympic ASBO which means he can be arrested and imprisoned for up to 5 years for entering ANY land in Britain without the permission of the owner. All for the dangerous activity of trying to stop a marshland being destroyed to make way for a Basketball court in Leyton.
So now we wait to see what happens with Simon but the establishment has once again shown the lengths it will go to to protect its most valuable asset - the Land.
BERN BABY BERN fundraiser for Birmingham Eviction Resistance Network
11-06-2012 21:58
Come along to Ort for a raucous evening of food music and fun to raise money for Birmingham Eviction Resistance Network.
The Mistakings will be playing, along with Leander Jones, Johnny Kowalski and Tim Martin aka @dogcatchicken, with DJ extraodinaire Will Itsasecret bringing the night to a climactic end. A delicious vegetarian curry will be being sold for £2.50
Donation on the door
Gaza family ask Queen to remove blood diamond
11-06-2012 20:55
The Sammoni family in Gaza have issued an appeal to the Queen to remove the Steinmetz Forevermark Jubilee Diamond which De Beers put on display in the Tower of London to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.
Twenty nine members of the Sammoni family were killed during the Israeli assault on Gaza (Operation Cast Lead) in December 2008 – January 2009. Twenty one members of the family were killed in a single incident when the house they were ordered to shelter in by the Israeli military was later targeted with missiles by the Givati Brigade. The Steinmetz diamond company has “adopted” a Unit of the Givati Brigade which it funded and supported during the attack on Gaza.
In an appeal, posted to YouTube today, Helmi Sammoni, speaking on behalf of the family said: “On behalf of the surviving members of the Sammoni family and the hundreds of other families in Gaza who have been killed by war crimes committed by the Givati Brigade of the Israeli Army, we are shocked and disappointed by the decision of De Beers to present the Queen of England with a diamond manufactured by the Steinmetz Diamond company – a company which supported the Givati Brigade during the Israeli war on Gaza late 2008 as they murdered 29 members of our family in cold blood. We the Sammoni family call on the Queen of England and the British people to decline this gift. We demand that De Beers be instructed to remove this offensive blood diamond display immediately.” (Translated from Arabic)
A UN Human Rights Council investigation concluded that the Israeli military committed serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in Gaza. The Steinmetz company, through the Steinmetz Foundation boasts about funding and supporting a Unit of the Givati Brigade during Operation Cast Lead.
Diamonds that generate revenue used to fund a regime guilty of war crimes are de-facto blood diamonds. If the Jubilee Diamond was crafted by a company that funded the Zimbabwean military there would be public outcry and demands for its removal.
By displaying a Steinmetz blood diamond, De Beers have demonstrated thier arrogance and hubris. They clearly believe that they can dictate, to the Queen and to the public, that diamonds which fund Israeli war criminals should not be considered blood diamonds.
The Demilitarized Zone in North America's Drug War
11-06-2012 20:25
Remembering the victims of Israeli air strikes outside EDO: Summer of Resistance week seven
11-06-2012 17:08
Did Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons want to gas racial minorities in the '70s?
11-06-2012 17:04
A now available on DVD "World in Action" documentary, reveals that when BNP MEP's Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons were National Front leaders in the 1970's, their party had privately decided to gas Britain's racial minorities at concentration camps whose future locations had already been chosen.'Fracking' - a protest song
11-06-2012 13:14
‘Fracking’ – a protest song. http://www.mediafire.com/?vsa9f1rxdrxlbpr ‘Fracking’ is a song written in opposition to the industrial extraction of fossil-fuel shale gas by hydraulic fracturing, and aims to increase awareness of the many dangers that fracking presents. The protest song has a long tradition across all types of movements and struggles, and it is hoped that this recording can do its small bit to help build community resistance to fracking across the world.
Green Festival, Nottingham 1 'Around the Event'
11-06-2012 12:55
12.00 - 6pm Sunday 10 June 2012
People gathered in the Arboretum Park, Nottingham for the annual Green Festival [this was the 21st event].
Luckily, the weather held off .... after a week of uncertainties. Many stalls, exhibits, kids events and music...... oh, and a burmese python!
Green Festival 2012 - 'Around the Event'
http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2615
Green Festival 2012 - 'Music'
http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2616
Links to previous Green Festival events 2003 - 2011
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/09/276738.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/05/312039.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/342079.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/342101.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/342186.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/05/371715.html
http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/1797
____________________________________________
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>
Green Festival, Nottingham 2 'Music'
11-06-2012 12:55
12.00 - 6pm Sunday 10 June 2012
People gathered in the Arboretum Park, Nottingham for the annual Green Festival [this was the 21st event].
Luckily, the weather held off .... after a week of uncertainties. Many stalls, exhibits, kids events and music...... oh, and a burmese python!
Green Festival 2012 - 'Around the Event'
http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2615
Green Festival 2012 - 'Music'
http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2616
Short videos of Dubheart at the Green Festival, Nottingham
http://youtu.be/nRs_okgB1FE
http://youtu.be/faYkGZVWs4E
Links to previous Green Festival events 2003 - 2011
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/09/276738.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/05/312039.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/342079.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/342101.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/342186.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/05/371715.html
http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/1797
____________________________________________
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>
The Royal Visit
11-06-2012 12:55
Continuing the Jubilee celebrations marking the fact that the Monarch still isn't dead, the Queen will be coming to Nottingham on Wednesday June 13th. She will be joined by Prince Philip (the racist one) and William and Kate (the two who got married). Lucky us.
When Nottingham City Council set its budget in April, they claimed that, as a result of cuts by central government, they could no longer keep open Marlstones Elderly Person's Home in Bulwell and the Willows Centre in Beechdale. However, with Our Glorious Ruler coming to town, no expense has been spared. It turns out the only pensioner the council cares about isn't even a city resident.
Anybody passing through Market Square recently will have seen the Council House covered in imposing red banners (in a presumably unintentional homage to totalitarian regimes across the world). Council staff have also been at work repointing some of the stonework.
However, the efforts in the city centre pale alongside the days of work which have been going on at Vernon Park in Old Basford where the assorted royals will unveil a plaque. Trees have been trimmed, the grass mown repeatedly, new turf laid, gates replaced, paths swept and new signs put up. With work continuing through Sunday, this is presumably being done on overtime, but is certainly going to limit the workforce available for Nottingham's other parks.
The park is currently closed for two hole day ahead of the visit (it is closed from today and reopens at some point on Wednesday) as marquees are erected, crowd control barriers set-up and a small fun fair prepared.
Not content with taking over our park, the organisers of the even are also closing all the surrounding roads. With the event taking place on Wednesday (13th), local residents were finally informed of what was happening on Friday (8th) when letters from the police and council were distributed.
These revealed that Athorpe Grove, Barlock Road, Blankey Street, Francis Grove, Landsdowne Road, Norburn crescent, Queensberry Street, Roseberry Street, Rydal Grove, Tewkesbury Drive, Vernon Avenue, Vernon Park Drive, Vernon Road and Waterford Street were all being closed from midday Tuesday 12th June. Not only will residents not be able to access those streets, they will also have to remove their cars.
While some (generally the more well-off) will have driveways, many of the houses in the area don't. In practice, this means that anybody who works 'normal' hours will have to find somewhere where to put their car from Tuesday morning (when they go to work) to Wednesday evening (when they return). You might think the council aware of how much disruption this will cause would suggest an alternative, but instead they have just threatened people with a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) if they fail to comply.
Yellow letters in stark bold type were left on people's cars today to hammer home the point.
The letter from the police confirmed in addition that a "thorough search of certain areas in and around the park" would be taking place. As part of this it will, apparently, "be necessary to search the read garden" of people's houses. No power for such a search is mentioned, it is just assumed that residents as loyal subjects will comply unquestioningly.
This of course, is the wider significance of this trip and the Jubilee as a whole, an opportunity to remind people about their correct and proper role in society. This is why the Monarchy needs to be abolished. If we could manage it before Wednesday, that'd be grand.
Time Brendan Barnett had his lying mouth washed out
11-06-2012 11:17
http://leedsabc.org/another-attempt-to-sabotage-john-bowdens-parole-by-prison-hired-social-worker/ , http://leedsabc.org/update-from-john-bowden-about-lies-written-by-prison-hired-social -worker-2/ , http://leedsabc.org/support-for-john-bowden/ , http://leedsabc.org/corrupt-social-workers-attempt-to-rid-themselves-of-prisoner-john-bowden/ , http://leedsabc.org/end-lies-and-corruption-in-edinburgh-criminal-justice- services/ , http://leedsabc.org/lying-prison-social-worker-invited-to-audition-for-pinocchio/, http://leedsabc.org/lying-prison-social-worker-has-future-career-prospects-dashed/, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496835.html, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496617/html, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496784.html
Why the Majority didn’t celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee?
11-06-2012 11:02
As we stand on the edge of the precipice of economic armageddon, the idea of a Jubilee to wipe away unpayable debt - largely existent as fictitious capital such as derivatives and financial dark matter - has been vocalised from varying quarters.the economist Steve Keen has been talking about it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01j5h51/Analysis_Steve_Keen_Why_Economics_Is_Bunk/ Plus there is this article by Steve Barrow published on The Guardian online last week:
http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/03/lets-reclaim-jubilee?cat=commentisfree&type=article Lying Prison Social Worker Could Be A Record-Breaker
11-06-2012 10:51
http://leedsabc.org/another-attempt-to-sabotage-john-bowdens-parole-by-prison-hired-social-worker/ , http://leedsabc.org/update-from-john-bowden-about-lies-written-by-prison-hired-social -worker-2/ , http://leedsabc.org/support-for-john-bowden/ , http://leedsabc.org/corrupt-social-workers-attempt-to-rid-themselves-of-prisoner-john-bowden/ , http://leedsabc.org/end-lies-and-corruption-in-edinburgh-criminal-justice- services/ , http://leedsabc.org/lying-prison-social-worker-invited-to-audition-for-pinocchio/, http://leedsabc.org/lying-prison-social-worker-has-future-career-prospects-dashed/, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496835.html, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496617/html, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496784.html, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496869.html
Leeds banner-drop in support of John Bowden
11-06-2012 10:23
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/06/496869.html
War crimes apologist at Reclaiming the NHS event
11-06-2012 08:55
Polly Toynbee, war crimes apologist, Blairite propagandist and Guardian columnist, has been given a prominent public role by the NHS Support Federation to speak at the Reclaiming the NHS event at the Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, on Saturday the 23rd of June. This jarrs because the federation describes itself as non-party political. And the crimes she supported have not been forgotten. Surely there are other anti-cuts journalists who could speak?
Polly Toynbee remains an unrepentant supporter of Tony Blair’s Iraq war, and given her close New Labour ties her appearance as ‘an independent journalist in support of the NHS’ is a joke. Especially since New Labour implemented some of the early privatisation policies while in government, which she had nothing to say about in her Guardian column. Furthermore, she is most likely acting as a Trojan Horse to co-opt the NHS Support Federation towards New Labour’s plans to get re-elected, and to further her own career and undeserved public profile in the process.
All the other speakers on the 23rd of June are legitimate professionals and non-party political activists, from groups like UK Uncut and 38 Degrees. Someone as politically partisan and controversial as Polly Toynbee should not be given credence there.
Should we forget the crimes this person scandalously justified simply because her party is now in 'opposition', and give her another adulation of undeserved kudos just because she now pretends to support the NHS?
To contact the NHS Support Federation and voice your concerns:
NHS Support Federation
Community Base
113 Queen's Road
Brighton, East Sussex BN1 4HA
info@nhscampaign.org.uk
01273 234 822
The director is Paul Evans