Great job - let's hear it for classic childrens TV characters. Maybe the tele tubbies can join the wombles next time - they have plenty of padding too - big tummies! And why not Zippey and Bungle from Rainbow - and Sooty! He could dart in and out amongst the coppers feet unnoticed. Then there's Big Ted and is it Jemima? from Playschool. A fun day out could be had by all but nodoubt Jemima would bear the brunt of all the unprovoked and illegal Met Police batton assaults. Actually the padding is such a great idea. It can't be illegal to protect oneself and when the Police realise their battons aren't working they will start to behave like grown ups and actually 'Police' these sort of democratic protests inteligently instead of beating them into submission.
Are there any Wombles collating video evidence of illegal use of Police battons??? All I saw on the TV was one unprovoked Police assault after another. They video the Wombles so why not the Wombles video the real violent guys and maybe take them to court, get them sacked etc. Also the riot gear only came out at the Oxford Circus after a few empty cans were thrown at the cops - who threw the few cans though? Undercover cops by any chance? Great way to get yerself some extra work isn't it. The Fire Brigade will be lighting their own fires next.
Half my affinity group got caught up in the madness spiralling around the wombles, a terrorist group led by a sinister uncle from the Soviet bloc.
The wombles seemed a bit disappointed they didn't achieve their plan of liberating those who'd got themselves trapped and of facilitating a crowd to take unnamed liberties in their midst. They shouldn't be. Following them to Holborn was by far the most liberating experience I had all day and I doubt if anyone outside the wombles' crowd could beat it on that score.
What they did achieve was allowing experimentation with the holy grail of screwing up the piggy plan.
I learnt:
Being random really confuses the cops.
Orders take long enough to filter down that the only tactic the police could use was chase and overtake.
Helicopters ain't much use against womblin through the side streets
Side streets are wicked.
It didn't fragment until we started along main roads
Taking different routes to the same point is good.
Draw the route on a map* Squint a bit. What does the shape remind you of? *have this as a .GIF- comment & leave address to get it.
Outrunning the police is more fun than fighting them.
MORE WOMBLES!
The crowd needs to stay together to prevent splitting.
Front wombles and back wombles?
While the police can be outrun, there's not time to stop off for burgers without being caught up.
Leafletting the crowd with crowd uncontrol tactics would help (but would need small runs of different leaflets to ensure randomness) Perhaps could have prevented the unfortunates being trapped with the unimaginatives.
It couldn't happen without being chaos.
My grandchildren will learn of the wombles.
I also found that in the chaos, while the executive decision seemed to rest with the wombles, people were listened to when they suggested where to go and there were notawombles directing the crowd. These people obviously had experience of crowd situations and knew the streets well.
And some other stuff that shouldn't be mentioned in case it falls into piggy hands.
i looked at a map, and thought: they could seal up the tube station. But I still came out of the tube station. I never want to see oxford circus again. Still, I was glad I brought some food. And other things. Definitely remember to bring stuff! And walk into the centre of London: don't expect to use the tube to get to the destination if the destination has been published. Oh: CAN WE PLEASE HAVE INFORMATION LINES AS WELL AS BUST LINES TO CALL!!!
sheesh: 8 hours. Wonder if my company can bill the met for wasting company time?
Oh, and if we had insisted on being charged or let go? just a thought...
It had been a wet and predictable day... after police had penned in protesters in Euston, it obvious to me that this is what they would do at Oxford Circus. It did happen, and I was left feeling beaten and wet. I went to Wardour St for a pint to console myself only to meet the Wombles heading towards Oxford St. What happened over the next hour was magic - thank you Wombles....
Yeah - a big thankyou to the Wombles for making Mayday the (limited) success it was. The drummers who kept everyone's spirits up and the brave activists who smashed windows also deserve praise.
I think we need to try something radically different next year though or it'll be a case of "here we go again". Police tactics and media scare stories in the last 2 years have prevented mass actions from being as effective as J18.
I'm all for people defending themselves, and I think the wombling idea was a great one, this time. However I'm concerned about the police response.
It isn't the case that the police will stop batoning protestors and see the error of their ways (I mean - come on!) - they will in all likelihood get given even bigger batons to smack people 'round the head with, or start using gas, or cattle prods (like in the US).
Which means that next time it may not work. Or possibly it will all just end up escalating and a rank of "super-protestors" will emerge with gas masks, armour plating and what have you.
Which means that those of us who aren't (for whatever reason) wombled-up will come off worse, or will have to rely on Wombles to protect us.
Obviously the cops may well get armed to the teeth anyway, and I'm not calling for the Wombles to stop - (good on yers!). But the issues around this do concern me.
Maybe we need to be thinking ahead - what's the NEXT random bizarre thing we can come up with that will tip the balance in our favour?
Next time...pick a spot we can't be trapped in. The police response was justified by the 1,000 or so hard-core Anarchists predicted to converge on the Capital, all they got was the a few Wombles!
I certainly hope I'm not wombling in 50 years time - I hope there's no need!
The white overalls thing is a tactic. There are some nice philosophical angles, such as representing the invisubles and the rejection of branding, but basically it works because its new and clever.
Yes the state has more powerful weapons and physical resources but we have imagination, enthusiasm and chaos on our side. ( as well as the first law of entropy - look it up)
It gives us breathing space. It puts the state back on the defensive, however briefly, and could offer us tremedous power in involving vast numbers again who wioll hopefully feel safe if they are less able bodied or whatever knwing that this time they don't need to be on the front line, but have a buffer between them and the police.
The wombles on our own won't win the revolution, but we can be a small link in a powerful chain of unstoppable events. :)
Here's to the wombles for getting a thousand of us out of oxford circus and as far as holborn. The cops lost it for a while as we were going through soho. Typical of the next day's media to play it down by suggesting we had been confined in and was a victory for the forces of law and order Well we know better d'ont we.
i wasnt there..but the wombles are an inspiration to us all. CHAOS and IMAGINATION , not to mention HUMOUR, are our best weapons.lets use them! HAIL ERIS. love is the law... RA
I was so impressed with the Wombles I want to start a Great Auntie Bulgaria wing. qualifications: you need to be old enough to know better (been there, done that seen it all last time round) and young enough still to do it again. Any oldies out there intertested in joining me, mail me: shamelessh2001@yahoo.com
its great that 25 people in padding can allow a 1000 people to march peacefully.A great success! the corprate media and police should b ashamed of themselves. YOU DID MUM AND DAD PROUD THANKS A MILLION! SEE U IN GENEOA!
The Womble tactic is not meant to be only an annual thing. It is meant to be a growing thing. On Mayday all we could have hoped for was to have a go and attempt to go through some police lines, hopefully preventing some section 60's. If by next month all the people who have said positive things about us here on IMC were with us, we could have a fucking good go at storming the Stock Exchange, or whatever; take your pick. What about everybody else who didn't say so but thought it was a cool idea? It takes no time at all to pick a few old cushions out of a skip. Do it today and you are a womble. Set up a tat collective with your friends. There are no leaders, no directives, no rules. Just a struggle to take on. The sooner there's more of us prepared to take their beatings and not feel them, more of us to be pushed yet refusing to move, more of us to issue THEM with OUR demands, then the sooner we start taking over for real. This doesn't have to remain a defence. Contact the website. See you real soon. War and peace, Bananaman.
Comments
Hide the following 17 comments
wombling free
03.05.2001 00:29
Are there any Wombles collating video evidence of illegal use of Police battons??? All I saw on the TV was one unprovoked Police assault after another. They video the Wombles so why not the Wombles video the real violent guys and maybe take them to court, get them sacked etc. Also the riot gear only came out at the Oxford Circus after a few empty cans were thrown at the cops - who threw the few cans though? Undercover cops by any chance? Great way to get yerself some extra work isn't it. The Fire Brigade will be lighting their own fires next.
simon
Big Yay for the Wombles
03.05.2001 02:53
The wombles seemed a bit disappointed they didn't achieve their plan of liberating those who'd got themselves trapped and of facilitating a crowd to take unnamed liberties in their midst.
They shouldn't be. Following them to Holborn was by far the most liberating experience I had all day and I doubt if anyone outside the wombles' crowd could beat it on that score.
What they did achieve was allowing experimentation with the holy grail of screwing up the piggy plan.
I learnt:
Being random really confuses the cops.
Orders take long enough to filter down that the only tactic the police could use was chase and overtake.
Helicopters ain't much use against womblin through the side streets
Side streets are wicked.
It didn't fragment until we started along main roads
Taking different routes to the same point is good.
Draw the route on a map*
Squint a bit.
What does the shape remind you of?
*have this as a .GIF- comment & leave address to get it.
Outrunning the police is more fun than fighting them.
MORE WOMBLES!
The crowd needs to stay together to prevent splitting.
Front wombles and back wombles?
While the police can be outrun, there's not time to stop off for burgers without being caught up.
Leafletting the crowd with crowd uncontrol tactics would help (but would need small runs of different leaflets to ensure randomness) Perhaps could have prevented the unfortunates being trapped with the unimaginatives.
It couldn't happen without being chaos.
My grandchildren will learn of the wombles.
I also found that in the chaos, while the executive decision seemed to rest with the wombles, people were listened to when they suggested where to go and there were notawombles directing the crowd.
These people obviously had experience of crowd situations and knew the streets well.
And some other stuff that shouldn't be mentioned in case it falls into piggy hands.
not a womble
avoiding tubes
03.05.2001 03:36
But I still came out of the tube station.
I never want to see oxford circus again.
Still, I was glad I brought some food. And other things.
Definitely remember to bring stuff!
And walk into the centre of London: don't expect to use the tube to get to the destination if the destination has been published.
Oh: CAN WE PLEASE HAVE INFORMATION LINES AS WELL AS BUST LINES TO CALL!!!
sheesh: 8 hours. Wonder if my company can bill the met for wasting company time?
Oh, and if we had insisted on being charged or let go?
just a thought...
rich
e-mail:
rw@kirion.net
Police baton charging Teletubbies
03.05.2001 07:13
Rooibard
e-mail:
Rooibard@aol.com
Wombles made my day...
03.05.2001 07:45
Jamie
Kudos the da Wombles
03.05.2001 08:21
I think we need to try something radically different next year though or it'll be a case of "here we go again". Police tactics and media scare stories in the last 2 years have prevented mass actions from being as effective as J18.
Lemming
e-mail:
lemming@grandtheftcyber.com
reservations about wombling
03.05.2001 08:24
It isn't the case that the police will stop batoning protestors and see the error of their ways (I mean - come on!) - they will in all likelihood get given even bigger batons to smack people 'round the head with, or start using gas, or cattle prods (like in the US).
Which means that next time it may not work. Or possibly it will all just end up escalating and a rank of "super-protestors" will emerge with gas masks, armour plating and what have you.
Which means that those of us who aren't (for whatever reason) wombled-up will come off worse, or will have to rely on Wombles to protect us.
Obviously the cops may well get armed to the teeth anyway, and I'm not calling for the Wombles to stop - (good on yers!). But the issues around this do concern me.
Maybe we need to be thinking ahead - what's the NEXT random bizarre thing we can come up with that will tip the balance in our favour?
Any ideas?
Da Bear
Fozzie Bear
Underground, Overground
03.05.2001 10:24
Madam Cholet
future of wombling
04.05.2001 01:13
The white overalls thing is a tactic. There are some nice philosophical angles, such as representing the invisubles and the rejection of branding, but basically it works because its new and clever.
Yes the state has more powerful weapons and physical resources but we have imagination, enthusiasm and chaos on our side. ( as well as the first law of entropy - look it up)
It gives us breathing space. It puts the state back on the defensive, however briefly, and could offer us tremedous power in involving vast numbers again who wioll hopefully feel safe if they are less able bodied or whatever knwing that this time they don't need to be on the front line, but have a buffer between them and the police.
The wombles on our own won't win the revolution, but we can be a small link in a powerful chain of unstoppable events. :)
ginger
wombling free
04.05.2001 15:13
The cops lost it for a while as we were going through soho. Typical of the next day's media to play it
down by suggesting we had been confined in and was a victory for the forces of law and order
Well we know better d'ont we.
p.s I hope the wombles d'ont disband
moby
RESPEX TO THE WOMBLES
04.05.2001 19:50
HAIL ERIS.
love is the law...
RA
RA
great Auntie Bulgaria wing?
07.05.2001 11:17
Any oldies out there intertested in joining me, mail me:
shameless h
e-mail:
shamelessh2001@yahoo.com
i want to b a womble
07.05.2001 18:22
YOU DID MUM AND DAD PROUD THANKS A MILLION! SEE U IN GENEOA!
ad
DO IT NOW.
08.05.2001 13:26
It takes no time at all to pick a few old cushions out of a skip. Do it today and you are a womble. Set up a tat collective with your friends. There are no leaders, no directives, no rules. Just a struggle to take on. The sooner there's more of us prepared to take their beatings and not feel them, more of us to be pushed yet refusing to move,
more of us to issue THEM with OUR demands, then the sooner we start taking over for real.
This doesn't have to remain a defence.
Contact the website.
See you real soon.
War and peace,
Bananaman.
Freddy Banana
e-mail:
heretic666 hushmail.com
Homepage:
www.wombleaction.mrnice.net
teletubbie 10k
28.05.2001 20:14
ed
oldies up for it
17.06.2001 00:38
marmoset
teletubbies
17.06.2001 00:41
marmoset