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Smash EDO: End to the summer of Resistance & August break

04-08-2012 21:40

We've had an intense few months with the summer of resistance and will be taking a break from the noise demos in August to build up energy for the autumn. If any of you out there have any actions planned August might be a good time to carry them out! Below is a summary of what's been going on during the summer.

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Smash EDO trial runs out of time

04-08-2012 19:39

The crime reporter of The Argus does his best to cover the drama and technical complexities of the latest Smash EDO protest trial in Brighton.

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Lenton Tree Felling

04-08-2012 16:55

On Friday a small demo to protect the beautiful lime trees of Lenton was organised at the last minute and we would hope have a larger one on Monday.

Last week an article on Indymedia (see below) informed us of the felling of trees within Lenton. The council are intending to cut down 84 of the marvellous lime trees which line Lenton's streets. The reasons provided (see initial article) are paper thin to our minds and merely serve as a cover for a money saving strategy. As such we organised a very small demonstration at the last minute to at very least voice our discontent.

We arrived at around 8.20 in the morning when they had unfortunately begun for the day. Met by calls of 'Genuine Hippee's' and a worker shoving one of us for walking on a public road. Generally they attempted to ignore our presence with only the worker who shouted 'Genuine Hippees' engaging us in conversation beyond telling us to not to talk to them as they were working. Eventually our presence warranted the arrival of three council staff and three PCSO's. Both trio's were amicable and polite, recognising our right to peaceful protest and soon left after conferring with the workers. The council workers were keen to inform that local residents had been consulted and the plans had met with approval via the Tenants association which didn't consult with residents and we have struggled to discover who actually sits on it. To our minds the decision making process has been purposefully exclusive which is evidenced by the fact this attack to the Lenton ecosystem comes at a time when the majority of residents, I.E. Students, have left for the summer ensuring minimal fuss.

We left at around 1/2 10 feeling that sustaining the protest was unneccesary. We were informed that the council would be notified and that a manager of some description would be around on Monday. As such we would like as many people as possible to come meet us at the entrance to the Castle at 8.A.M Monday.

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The umbrellas of Parliament Square - musical chairs and malicious prosecution

04-08-2012 16:39

The authorities are trying to make life as difficult as possible for Parliament Square peace campaigner Barbara Tucker. What are they so afraid of that they have to take such actions as confiscating her tent, sleeping bag, umbrella and even blankets?

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London AF benefit

04-08-2012 13:45

Blues night to for Anarchist Federation

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International Call for Solidarity with Zapatista Support Bases of San Marcos Aviles

04-08-2012 13:39

“It is not only the task of the independent/alternative media to circulate the truth, but rather it is the responsibility of us all to do so.”

“Our compas from San Marcos Avilés are suffering this violence because they are indigenous, because they are Zapatistas, and because they have opened their own autonomous school.”

Full article | 1 addition | 3 comments

"We'll expose the blood on Tory hands"

04-08-2012 12:36

Campaigners pledged today to "name and shame" the Con-Dem coalition for every death caused by its vicious attack on disability and jobless benefits.

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Nttm Gay Pride : Sunday Events

04-08-2012 02:55

 

Sunday 29th July 2012

Nottingham Gay Pride events, starts with a parade from the Market Square .... up the Mansfield Road ... to the Forest Recreation Ground.

 

 

A number of stages with a variety of music, marquees, shows and stalls.

 

Nttm Gay Pride 1 Parade  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2708

Nttm Gay Pride 2 Events  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2709

Nttm Gay Pride 3 Stage  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2710

 

I also shot a couple of videos from the day .... please check out:

Burlesque Show - Nottingham Gay Pride  http://youtu.be/DKYV-0CuKgY

'Basshunter' at Nottingham Gay Pride  http://youtu.be/ComrR2k12SU

____________________________________________

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>

 

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Nttm Gay Pride 1 Parade

03-08-2012 22:55

 

Nottingham Gay Pride events, starts with a parade from the Market Square .... up the Mansfield Road ... to the Forest Recreation Ground.

 

 

A number of stages with a variety of music, marquees, shows and stalls.



Nttm Gay Pride 1 Parade  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2708

Nttm Gay Pride 2 Events  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2709

Nttm Gay Pride 3 Stage  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2710

 



I also shot a couple of videos from the day .... please check out:

Burlesque Show - Nottingham Gay Pride  http://youtu.be/DKYV-0CuKgY

'Basshunter' at Nottingham Gay Pride  http://youtu.be/ComrR2k12SU

____________________________________________

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>

 

Full article

Nttm Gay Pride 2 Events

03-08-2012 22:55

 

Saturday 28th July 2012

Nottingham Gay Pride events, starts with a parade from the Market Square .... up the Mansfield Road ... to the Forest Recreation Ground.

 

 

 

A number of stages with a variety of music, marquees, shows and stalls.


 

 

Nttm Gay Pride 1 Parade  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2708

Nttm Gay Pride 2 Events  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2709

Nttm Gay Pride 3 Stage  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2710

 

 

I also shot a couple of videos from the day .... please check out:

Burlesque Show - Nottingham Gay Pride  http://youtu.be/DKYV-0CuKgY

'Basshunter' at Nottingham Gay Pride  http://youtu.be/ComrR2k12SU

____________________________________________

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>



 

Full article

Nttm Gay Pride 3 Stage

03-08-2012 22:55

 

Saturday 28th July 2012

Nottingham Gay Pride events, starts with a parade from the Market Square .... up the Mansfield Road ... to the Forest Recreation Ground.

 

 

 

A number of stages with a variety of music, marquees, shows and stalls.


 

 

Nttm Gay Pride 1 Parade  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2708

Nttm Gay Pride 2 Events  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2709

Nttm Gay Pride 3 Stage  http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2710

 

 

I also shot a couple of videos from the day .... please check out:

Burlesque Show - Nottingham Gay Pride  http://youtu.be/DKYV-0CuKgY

'Basshunter' at Nottingham Gay Pride  http://youtu.be/ComrR2k12SU

____________________________________________

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>



 

Full article

film of anti-nuke protest at japan embassy

03-08-2012 22:55

activists staged a solidarity protest outside the london japanese embassy this morning as tens of thousands protested outside the prime minister's residence in japan

japanese activists and the uk anti-nuclear group 'kicknuclear.org' organised a solidarity protest outside the japanese embassy in piccadilly this morning, as japanese people hold weekly demos outside the prime minister's residence on friday evenings in japan.

the government there has begun restarting reactors after a closure of around 50 facilities for safety checks following fukushima.

at fukushima itself, things are bad, with water, pumped to cool three of the reactors that would otherwise meltdown, continues to leak into the ground and out to the pacific. meanwhile steam releases particles of highly dangerous radioactive elements such as causium and even plutonium into the atmosphere.

while germany is closing down its entire nuclear programme, japan and some western countries continue to expand, producing plutonium for their weapons programmes, thought to be a large reason for the heavily-subsidised industry.

the protests in london start at 9am each week and this short film gives a flavour of the morning and includes a couple of interviews.

 

http://vimeo.com/46891653

japan embassy london from rikki indymedia on Vimeo.

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USA: Human Rights Activist Ordered to Jail

03-08-2012 21:30

The case of Ed Frey is reminiscent of an earlier Santa Cruz case where Sandy Loranger did time in jail for feeding the homeless soup. When the judge offered her counseling instead of jail Sandy Loranger replied, "If feeding my fellow man is a crime, I am beyond rehabilitation."

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Free film @ The Cowley Club - Working Slowly

03-08-2012 17:44

On Wednesday, August 8th we will be screening Working Slowly (Radio Alice). This drama from 2004, set during the student uprisings of 1977, is part of our "Radical History Film Nights" series. The title of the film (the original Italian title is "Lavorare Con Lentezza") is taken from the notion of "refusal of work" (rifiuto del lavoro), as proposed by Italian autonomists during the 1960s and 1970s.

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Week 7, Runnymede Eco-Village.

03-08-2012 16:55

Long house with new extension

Its been 7 weeks since we arrived on the disused land at the ex-Brunel university, Runnymede Campus.  Since then we have been busy building an eco-village community based on sustainable methods.  This is our latest regular report.

Full article | 1 comment

Take action:15 min trial, 15 yr sentence in Iraq

03-08-2012 10:55

Caught up between the excitement of the London Olympics and the upcoming tenth anniversary of the Iraq war, the mainstream media has largely failed to note that on 20 June, a London pensioner was handed a 15-year prison sentence in Iraq for "funding terrorist groups" in a trial that lasted all of 15 minutes. 

Please take action for Ramze Shahib Ahmed: sign Amnesty's petition/ write to your MP & Foreign Office/ write to the Iraqi government

http://onesmallwindow.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/record-breakers-british-pensioner-sentenced-to-15-years-in-15-minute-trial-in-iraq/

Record Breakers: British Pensioner Sentenced to 15 years in 15-minute trial in Iraq

By Aisha Maniar

Caught up between the excitement of the London Olympics and the upcoming tenth anniversary of the Iraq war, the mainstream media has largely failed to note that on 20 June, a London pensioner was handed a 15-year prison sentence in Iraq for "funding terrorist groups" in a trial that lasted all of 15 minutes. 

Having been acquitted in each of his previous eight trials since last year, Ramze Shihab Ahmed, 70, a pensioner of Iraqi origin from north London, was sentenced to 15 years for "funding terrorist groups" following  a 15-minute trial on 20 June 2012. Part of the evidence against him was obtained through torture, of Mr Ahmed and others, and his lawyer was unable to challenge the prosecution's arguments.

Ramze Shihab Ahmed travelled to Iraq in late 2009 to find his imprisoned son and was himself arrested in December that year. He then "disappeared" in detention and his family did not know where he was being held until March 2010 when he called his wife briefly and told her he was being held at Muthanna Airport, a secret detention facility near Baghdad. Shortly after this, in April 2010, he was transferred to Al-Rusafa Prison. Human Rights Watch published a report later that month on allegations of abuse they collected from prisoners who had been held at Muthanna: "Detainees in a secret Baghdad detention facility were hung upside-down, deprived of air, kicked, whipped, beaten, given electric shocks, and sodomized." One of them was Ramze Shihab Ahmed:

"Detainee D, a formal general in the Iraqi army and now a British citizen, who is in a wheelchair, was arrested on December 7, after he returned to Mosul from London to find his son, who had been detained. His jailers refused him medicine for his diabetes and high blood pressure. "I was beaten up severely, especially on my head," he told Human Rights Watch. "They broke one of my teeth during the beatings. ... Ten people tortured me; four from the investigation commission and six soldiers. .... They applied electricity to my penis and sodomized me with a stick. I was forced to sign a confession that they wouldn't let me read."

The confession obtained in this way has been partly used in his trial and conviction.

His case has been supported by Amnesty International since 2010 which has obtained and examined the court documents and described the proceedings as "grossly unfair". Kate Allen, Amnesty UK director, said ""This is deeply disturbing news. Ramze seems to have been convicted partly on the basis of a confession that was allegedly beaten out of him.

"The sentence comes on the back of what has already been a living nightmare for Ramze - of secret detention, alleged torture and then a prolonged trial that was itself grossly unfair.

"We need to see this dubious verdict set aside and Ramze either given a proper appeal or for him to be released and allowed to return home".

More than 6000 people have written to the Foreign Office through Amnesty's campaign over the past two years, demanding Mr Ahmed be lawfully charged or released and an investigation into the allegations of torture. The Foreign Office has also been supportive of the case; it has raised it on numerous occasions with Iraqi officials, most recently last month, when William Hague met Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on his visit to London.

Amnesty International believes that his detention is politically motivated, particularly following the arrest of a number of Iraqi Sunnis, including officials and the trials of former army officers; Ramze Shihab Ahmed is Sunni and ex-army. Following his continued detention after his eighth acquittal in May this year, Kate Allen said, "This is looking more and more like a politically-motivated effort to persecute Ramze, a Sunni and a former military man [...] Unless the prosecution can demonstrate a legitimate reason to detain Ramze, they should put an end to his ordeal and release him."

Ramze Shihab Ahmed's lawyers are appealing his conviction, seeking that the evidence obtained through torture be disqualified. The appeal process can take up to one year. Amnesty UK is continuing to support Mr Ahmed and his family and has started a petition on its website: www.amnesty.org.uk/ramze for which it is seeking at least 5,000 signatures, to be delivered to the Iraqi Embassy in London later this summer. Please add your name to the petition. Please also write to the Foreign Secretary William Hague (address and e-mail address below) and your own MP (find them at www.theyworkforyou.com) raising similar points, that the UK must press for a fair appeal for Mr Ahmed, press for his release to this country and an investigation into his allegations of torture.

You can write to William Hague at:

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

King Charles Street,

London, SW1A 2AH

E-mail: private.office@fco.gsi.gov.uk

You can also e-mail the Human Rights Committee of the Iraqi Council of Representatives (COR) at hrc@parliament.iq and
humanrightscom2007@yahoo.com asking for a fair appeal hearing for Ramze Shihab Ahmed. The Committee chair is Dr Salim Abdulla Al-Jabouri.

Arbitrary and unlawful arrests are not uncommon in Iraq, nor are secret prisons and the use of torture within the prison system. Overcrowding and detention of children is also common. Amnesty International believes that as of 2010, over 30,000 prisoners were being held without trial in Iraqi jails.

Please read pages 34-36 of this Amnesty International report for more information about Ramze Shihab Ahmed's case: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_20724.pdf

The abuse of prisoners following the handover of power back to the local authorities has been a concern in both Iraq and remains one in Afghanistan.

News source: Amnesty International UK. Many thanks to Amnesty International UK for its assistance. The author does not in any way represent Amnesty International UK.

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{crowdsourced} Noir / Love Beyond Recognition

03-08-2012 10:42

Please join us for a drop-in ‘clipsourcing’ workshop led by Swedish artist Josefina Posch in collaboration with artist and new media developer Mike Blackman (UK).

Using online tools specifically created for the project, participants will identify who the speakers are, contribute keywords, and rate short Film Noir movie clips. The contribution will help shape the final interactive piece that will be streamed live at Futherfield Gallery in December 2012.

Full article | 5 comments

Libya and Syria: When Anti-Imperialism Goes Wrong

03-08-2012 10:03

Reflexive opposition to Uncle Sam’s machinations abroad is generally a good thing. It is a progressive instinct that progressively declined in the 1990s, as presidents Bush Sr. and Clinton deftly deployed the U.S. military to execute “humanitarian” missions in Somalia, Haiti, and the Balkans and progressively increased in the 2000s, as Bush Jr. lurched from quagmire to disaster in transparent empire-building exercises in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Full article | 23 comments

Crass: Capitalist traitors using copyright laws against Anarcho-Punk.Net

02-08-2012 20:06

Crass: Capitalist traitors using copyright laws against Anarcho-Punk.Net - 3000 albums deleted because of these greedy selfish sellout bastards. 2 days ago, Mediafire advised Anarcho-Punk.net that a complaint concerning a copyright law was filed against Anarcho-Punk.net at Mediafire related to 7 albums by Crass. We're talking about albums released 30 years ago and not the remastered stuff.