Funny Weather
Have you noticed that we don't seem to get seasons any more, just weather ...
Does it make you wonder what's going on? It's July, and we have cold nights, storms, showers. Is it just more bad weather, or is it another sign of climate change?
Hold on a minute. Wasn't this whole global warming thing meant to lead to long hot summers? Vineyards and orange groves in the south of england. No one said anything about storms ...
Sorry to disillusion you, but as the temperature rises, there is more and more energy in the global weather system. And more energy leads to more extreme weather - high winds, heavy downpours and severe storms.
![](http://www.indymedia.org.uk/images/2004/07/294787.jpg)
Get involved [ Rising Tide | Stop Esso | No New Oil ]
Who are the G8? -- A week of action and discussion in Cambridge
![G8 protests](/icon/2004/06/292929.jpg)
The eight most powerful men in the world are on the run. Rocked by the scandals of third world debt, growing global inequality and violence in the service of neoliberalism, the G8 have been chased around the world since 1998, when 70,000 confronted them in Birmingham (the last time they met in the UK). Nowhere is safe for these eight global superpowers, so they find themselves forced to retreat into brutally enforced 'red zones' (as in Genoa, 2001) or inaccessible mountains (as in Canada, 2002, or Switzerland, 2003). This year, the eight prime ministers and presidents were protected from protesters by the sea, on a small island of the coast of the US. Even so, in case the sound of the sea failed to drown out the sound of dissent, a state of emergency was declared in the state of Georgia, allowing police to halt any demonstrations. And next year, the eight most powerful men in the world will be coming to the UK.
[G8 2004 in Georgia: News (official) | Maps]
[Cambridge pre-event publicity: flier 1 | flier 2 | Forum | Peoples' Golfing Association | East Anglia]
[Cambridge event reports: Anarchist golf photos | street theatre | forum | G8 explanation-leaflet | Corporate media on anarchist golf]
[Background: Debt and the G8 (WDM) | Arms Trade and the g8 (Amnesty) | Unfair Trade Rules (Oxfam) | Iraq War and the G8 | Health (MSF) | Global Policy Forum Analysis | Toronto University Background | `Better World' G8 links]
Scream against war, torture and occupation
![Scream](/icon/2004/05/291911.jpg)
The ICRC director of communications, Pierre Kraehenbuchel insisted that there was "a broad pattern, not individual acts, there was a pattern and a system." Furthermore the occupying forces have not improved the humanitarian situation (Read more), and the number of Iraqi civilians killed is estimated to be between 9921 and 11071.
Asylum campaigners fight on
![Photo of Boris](/icon/2004/05/292270.jpg)
Space for Cultural Diversity in Cambridge under Threat
![Cafe Afrika](/icon/2004/05/291035.jpg)
Café Afrika is one of only a few venues in Cambridge actively pursuing a culturally diverse program and, as they stated in their original response to the council decision:
We are the only venue which consciously promotes community values, cultural diversity, and equal access to the arts. We fundraise regularly for charity organisations, we always welcome local talent and local artists, we provide a free space for many promoters, community groups, meetings and activities.
Grafton Centre Mayday picnic: security "extremely jealous"
![The Grafton Grapple](/icon/2004/05/290440.jpg)
More reports from Cambridge Mayday activities: [1 | 2] [Photos] [Video]
Targeting Civilians: Anti-Personnel Landmines
![Afghanistan Landmine Victim](/icon/2004/04/289493.jpg)
SHAC World Day for Lab Animals
![Demonstrators](/icon/2004/04/289591.jpg)
The march was organised by the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) campaign, formed to force the closure of Huntingdon Life Sciences.
Massacre in Fallujah
![Iraqi woman shot by American snipers in the neck.](/icon/2004/04/289201.jpg)
Well over 470 people have now been slaughtered by US troops in Falluja, this week. 1700 have been injured. The deathtoll is expected to rise due to the siege nature of the military cordon around the town. ambulances are being fired upon and followed by sniper sights if they attempt to enter the town. Eyewitnesses have reported seeing bodies lying dead in the streets. Hospitals have been attacked. Medical supplies and bed shortages are at crisis levels. Residents are calling it a massacre.
Eyewitness accounts:
From Jo Wilding: 1, 2 | Rahul Mahujan's description | More descriptions | From Dahr Jamail: 1, 2 | From Occupation Watch, Baghdad.
For more information, Voices in the Wilderness have produced a briefing on the current state of affairs in Fallujah. You can also read accounts at the Electronic Iraq portal. By any measure the situation there is appalling.
Update: The US have responded by saying they will install some of Saddam Hussein's old security officers to restore order. More information is here.
STA- Making a killing in Burma
![](/icon/2004/03/286378.jpg)
In Cambridge a group of protestors gathered outside the STA office on Sidney St at noon. Several activists entered the shop and attempted to give out leaflets to the customers waiting inside. However, they were prevented from doing so by the store manager, and by a couple of helpful policemen who had turned up to lend a protective hand. The activists then attempted to engage the manager in discussion on STA’s role in supporting the Burma regime. He refused to be drawn and answered all questions with the same line “STA Travel does not promote tourism to Burma” This was an intriguing response considering the information available on the STA website. The two policemen escorted the activists out of the shop. The group remained outside the shop for another hour giving out leaflets to passersby, who seemed very receptive to what was being said. Perhaps the most entertaining part of the event was when the store manager came up to the front window and stood there holding up a large printed poster, obviously pre-prepared, with the words:
“STA TRAVEL DOES NOT PROMOTE TOURISM TO BURMA (though we do have lots of other good offers)”
Uni Teachers & Students Demonstrate Over Pay and Fees
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Meanwhile, at Essex University in Colchester, students occupied the boardroom of university boss Ivor Crewe, a high-profile advocate of fees, and called for a protest movement that can "force a shift in society's priorities, away from warfare and greed and towards satisfying human welfare and need." Occupations have also occurred at Oxford University and in Sheffield, where the Town Hall was taken over by students. Direct actions against threatened closures of the chemistry, philosophy, development studies, sociology and anthropology departments at Swansea University are planned for the 10th of March.
[Video: Cambridge AUT & CUSU pickets] [Cambridge AUT Ballot on Industrial Action] [How to Occupy Your University]
Top-up fees and the university system in the UK are usually discussed as if Britain was a lone island of turmoil in a wider ocean of calm worldwide. Within the mainstream press, there has been little recognition that a systematic, consistent set of structural reforms is being implemented around the globe by proponents of what might be called a "neoliberal", "marketized" approach to education. Here is a sampling of what is going on in:
[Argentina] [Australia] [Canada] [Germany] [Pakistan] [Russia]
Some Hutton puzzles
![](/icon/2004/02/284934.jpg)
the government and the BBC - a debate which has hinged upon the accuracy
and completeness of its findings. Much has been written about what Hutton
'didn't say'. Surprisingly little detailed analysis, however, has dissected
what he did say. The following, based upon an admittedly cursory reading of
the report, suggests that
1) the report's conclusions reflect a pattern of biased and selective
consideration of evidence 2) The report's avowed refusal to comment upon
the actual WMD issue conceals sufficient comment upon the issue to give the
government the opportunity to forestall further criticism.
Bridge Activist Arrested...Again!
![](/icon/2004/02/284866.jpg)
What happened after the war on Afghanistan?
![Bande Amir: Reconstruction after the war in Yakawlang (Sep 2002)](/icon/2004/01/283918.jpg)
On 7 October 2001, the US and UK began air attacks on Afghanistan. At that time, so soon after 11 September, there was some support for military action (1). On 7 December 2001, Kandahar, the last Taleban stronghold, fell prompting those in the West to declare the war to be won. (2).
But what was the end result of this war? Certainly Osama Bin Laden wasn't captured, though some Al-Qaeda infrastructure may have been destroyed. In the immediate aftermath of the war, it appeared that the UK and US' most obvious achievement had been the overthrowing of the Taliban - harbourers of Bin Laden, supporters of Al-Qaeda and oppressors of the local Afganistan population. So what did this mean for the people of Afghanistan?
Demo and direct action against the Cambridge primate lab
![](/icon/2004/01/283799.jpg)
[Previous coverage 1 |Discussion 1,2]
Shaheedah in Nablus, Palestine
![Tank in Palestine](/icon/2003/12/283144.jpg)
Cambridge Drinking Ban
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Hunger Strikers in Critical Condition
![Cambridge Thessaloniki solidarity stall](/icon/2003/11/281961.jpg)
One of the activists said, “The evidence is striking! Simon was seen wearing his blue rucksack when he was first dragged across the street by the police. Minutes later he was filmed surrounded by three black rucksacks which the police had filled with molotov's. It's all on film!”
LATEST UPDATE -- They're OUT! All 7 have been released on bail. See IMC UK for more information.
George gets ready for an exciting few weeks
![Perfect colour coordination!](/icon/2003/11/280233.jpg)
Freeing Asylum Seekers from Oakington
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Concerned individuals in Cambridge have therefore set up the Cambridge Bail Circle. The Bail Circle aims to attract individuals from the area and link them up with Oakington detainees identified by lawyers as having arguable cases. The individuals are asked to meet the detainee, attend court with them for a "bail hearing", and stand as "surety" for the them. The asylum seeker is then at least freed from detention whilst they await the review, although conditions are imposed.