Bath Bomb #24 Out Now
BBJ | 20.07.2009 12:58 | Animal Liberation | Anti-racism | Climate Chaos
THE BATH BOMB
@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #24
free/donation
July 09
“Working within the framework of the truth”
Come On, Let's Fry!
Despite being unable to handle current flights, Bristol airport is expanding. BIA plan to increase passengers and flights by expanding the terminal, while the green fields around the site are set to become a car park. Factor in the increase in noise pollution in the flight path, 60% increased traffic, and the £700 million the UK loses annually, as more holidaymakers fly out of Bristol than fly in.
In order to prevent the worst effects of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions must peak in 2015, yet the UK Government want to more than triple the capacity of airports by 2030. Hmmm. Meanwhile, Ed Miliband recently assured frequent flyers that half of UK emissions will be offset by paying poor countries to emit less. Come on Ed, how long do you expect the rest of the world to take the consequences of our lifestyle? Carbon trading and offsetting are nothing more than false solutions and delaying tactics – they cannot stop devastating climate change.
To help stop BIA's plans, visit the regular Bath Friends of the Earth stalls in Green Park Farmers Market, or submit an objection by August 13th, quoting ref: 09/P/1020/OT2 – see
http://www.stopbia.com/objection for ideas.
http://www.nobristolairportexpansion.co.uk
Foie Gras Protesters Turn Up The Heat…
…But Minibar owners still refuse to get out the kitchen.
Earlier in the month, anti-foie gras activists completed a four-day solid picket outside overpriced tapas restaurant Minibar on John Street, which continues to trick gullible toffs into paying good money for the diseased and distended livers of tortured and mistreated ducks. The escalation of the long-running campaign was called after Minibar entered their third month of weekly protests.
Although impressively obstinate about their democratic right to profit from the abuse of defenceless animals, Minibar have been looking decidedly shaky for a while, and it is hoped that increasing the pressure can speed the end of the campaign – and the end of the inconvenience their reticence has been causing for local businesses and residents. Concurrent to the increased pickets, a phone-in-and-complain campaign has been playing havoc with the restaurant’s time management, and has sparked some amusingly obscene tirades from co-owner and head chef Alexander Grant (01225 333 323, Tue-Sat 12-2:30 and 6-10pm).
Alex, who has responded to all peaceful overtures with threats and lies, has accused protestors of ‘bullying tactics’. Presumably leafleting his customers regularly loses us the moral high ground, whereas shoving people into roads, threatening to push a complaining potential customer down the stairs, having his crazy mate hit a protestor in his fancy 4x4, and crying to the (increasingly embarrassed-seeming) police every time someone signs a petition, allows him to keep it.
www.banfoiegras.org.uk/
www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/foiegras/index.html
EVENTS
Bath Hunt Saboteurs meetings, 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, 8pm, The Bell, Walcot Street
London Road Food Co-op, Wednesdays, 4-7pm, Riverside Community Centre, London Road
Debt advice drop-in, Wednesdays, 4-7pm, Twerton social centre, Day Crescent
The Lost Plot workday, Thursdays, 10am-dusk, Bathampton
Anti-foie gras demo, Fridays, meet Queen Square 7pm
Bath Stop The War Coalition vigil, Saturdays, 11.30am-12.30, Bath Abbey Courtyard
Bath Cycling Campaign meeting, Monday 20th July, venue TBC, 7.30pm, http://www.bathcyclingcampaign.org.uk
Anti-arms demo, Wednesday 22nd July, UV Europe Conference, Celtic Manor Hotel, Newport, South Wales, 9am onwards
Transition Drinks, Wednesday 22th July, 8pm, upstairs at The Raven
Bath Stop the War Coalition meeting, Wednesday 22nd July, Friends Meeting House, York Street, 8pm
Green Drinks Bike Ride, Wednesday 22nd July, meeting Norfolk Crescent Bath 6pm, depart 6.15pm
Peace News Summer Camp, Thursday 23rd – Monday 27th July, near Faringdon, Oxfordshire, £15-50 entry, http://www.peacenewscamp.info or 0845 458 2564.
Recycle Your Sundays, Sunday 26th July, the regular series of sociable, easy-paced cycle rides, www.rysbath.org.uk/Hazel 01225 469199
French Climate Camp Monday, Monday 3rd August – Sunday 9th August, France, http://www.campclimat.org
Bath Friends of the Earth meeting, Monday 3rd August, 8pm, Stillpoint, Broad Street Place, Broad Street
Belgian/Dutch Climate Action Camp, Monday 3rd August - Sunday 9th August, near Antwerp, http://www.klimaatactiekamp.org
Bath Animal Action meeting, Wednesday 5th August, 7.30-8.30pm, backroom of The Bell, Walcot Street
Bath Activist Network meeting, Thursday 6th August, 7.30-9pm, downstairs at The Hobgoblin, St James Parade
Bath FreeShop, Saturday 8th August, 12-3pm, outside Pump Rooms, Stall Street
Broadlands Orchardshare Volunteering Day, Saturday 8th August, 12-4pm, Broadlands Orchard, Box Road, Bathford, email broadlandsorchardshare [at] googlemail.com or phone 07532 472 256
Recycle Your Sundays, Sunday 9th August, the regular series of sociable, easy-paced cycle rides, www.rysbath.org.uk/Hazel 01225 469199
Bath Greenpeace meeting, Monday 10th August, 7.30-9pm, Stillpoint, Broad Street Place
The Camp for Climate Action in Scotland, Monday 3rd – Tuesday 11th August, Scotland, http://climatecampscotland.org.uk
Transition Open Forum, Tuesday 11th August, 7pm, Widcombe Social Club
Bath Green Drinks, Wednesday 12th August, 8.30pm, Rising Sun, Grove Street
BIA objection deadline, Thursday 13th August, http://www.nobristolairportexpansion.co.uk
Cymru Climate Camp, Thursday 13th – Sunday 16th August, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, http://www.climatecampcymru.org
Film: Life in Zimbabwe – One Nun, One Mum, Saturday 15th August, St Alphege’s School Hall, Oldfield Lane, 7.30pm, £5 per person/£12 per family, inc. Zimbabwean food, tel Shelagh 07867 500 583/email shelaghh [at] live.co.uk
Earth First! Summer Gathering, Tuesday 18th – Monday 24th August, Cumbria, http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk
Paul Baker-Hernandez Concert for Peace, Wednesday 19th August, Friends Meeting House, York Street, 7.30pm
Greek No Borders Camp, Tuesday 25th August – Monday 31st August, Lesvos, Greece, http://lesvos09.antira.info
The Camp for Climate Action 2009, Thursday 27th August – Wednesday 2nd September, London, http://www.climatecamp.org.uk
Bath Vegan Fayre, Saturday 29th August, Percy Community Centre, New King Street, 12 til 3pm
Bristol Anarchist Bookfair, Saturday 12th September, The Island, Silver Street, Bristol, 10.30am-7pm, http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org
Bristol Co-Mutiny: Social Change Not Climate Change gathering, Sunday 13th September – Saturday 19th September, http://www.comutiny.wordpress.com
International Day of Climate Action, Saturday 24th October, http://www.350.org/ oct24
Calais Melee
From the 23rd-29th June, protestors from across France and the UK, including Bath and Bristol, gathered in Calais to protest against their governments’ treatment of migrants. A camp was set up and defended against angry riot cops employing tear gas and concussion grenades, and several small actions (including highly seditious activities such as leafleting) were brutally suppressed by similarly angry police with batons and pistols. However, the Losquin detention centre in Lille was blockaded by 30 protesters in arm tubes, and the main march went ahead peacefully once a few inconvenient police lines had been brushed aside. Oh, and a frankly disturbing amount of cheap French wine was consumed by mildly traumatized activists who hadn’t been fully prepared for the intensity of French policing.
Every year, indoctrinated into thinking of the UK as some sort of promised land by post-colonial education systems, and speaking no European languages other than English, hundreds of refugees arrive at Calais, hoping to reach England. The British government, whose big-business friends make millions profiting from undocumented workers, goes to extreme lengths to prevent them from entering the country legally. Trapped in Calais, they are at the mercy of the openly-racist French riot police, who regularly beat migrants, torch their houses, and attempt to prevent them accessing food and water. Only through mass direct action – such as the Afghans’ well-defended shantytown or the Africans’ threats to claim asylum in France en-masse if threatened with mass deportations - and through visible public support, such as the No Borders Camp, are further, worse atrocities prevented.
Whilst British plans for a new ‘E-Borders’ scheme (involving fingerprint scans and a 53-point interrogation of addresses, phone numbers and card details for anyone leaving mainland Britain) are being hatched, the actions of the French government in Calais are illegal, a violation of UN-declared human rights, and amount to ethnic cleansing. It is the duty of all right-thinking people to demand an end to this abomination.
In breaking news, as we go to print, the British and French governments are combining forces to bulldoze away the homes of up to 1,800 migrants in an area of Calais referred to as ‘The Jungle’ from the 21st…
http://calaisnoborder.eu.org
http://www.calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com
Another Sainsburys? Piss Off, M'lord!
The community of Moreland Road is soon set to be shattered by a most unwelcome arrival, in the form of a new Sainsburys’ store at the old Woolworths site. Moreland Road is a diverse and vibrant community, with local traders selling everything you could possibly need – from a top notch hardware store to the local bakers, grocers, charity shops, newsagents, a top quality wholefoods store and a truly legendary curry house. But with Sainsburys’ having the money to undercut all of these local traders, how long will it be before it turns into yet another sterile ghost town? Sainsburys’ argue that they will create jobs and choice, but how much will be lost once this monolith rolls in and crushes the existing traders? Sainsburys’ have a horrific ethical track record, with their boss Lord Sainsbury (science minister for New Labour) investing in vivisection, GM crops, Israeli produce and the like. But we can stop this nightmare future now not with boycotts, but with celebration. Let’s ignore Sainsburys, and pretend it is not there, while we revel in the community already on offer on there. Sainsburys, Tescos and all their bastard breed rely on our apathy, on the fact that we will flood zombie-like into their cavernous neon bellies chanting 'bargains, convenience, cost', so let’s show them that we don't need them.
Or how else can we stop them? Well, the old Woollies has just had its windows put through, and we bet Sainsburys will have nice unguarded pane glass, too: just some local food for thought!
Bath Activist Network are a local umbrella group campaigning on issues as diverse as development, environmentalism, anti-war, animal rights, workers’ rights and more. Helping to produce The Bath Bomb, we are open to anyone, and our members range from trade unionists to anarchists, liberals to greens, and people who just want to change Bath for the better. For details on meetings, demos, or just to get in touch, email bathactivistnet [at] yahoo.co.uk, or see our website: http://www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com
Dedicated Swallowers Of Fascism
Last year, antifascists from all round the UK converged on Derbyshire to oppose the BNP’s Red, White & Blue festival and, BAN activists will be making a return trip on Saturday the 15th August. The community pleaded with organiser David Shapcott (of 6 The Spinney, Burnley in Lancashire) to cancel the festival, and even the police refused every bit of license they could, but to no avail, and the stubborn little racist is at it again. Taking place from the 13th to the 15th at the Bungalow, Codnor Denby Lane, Denby Village in Derbyshire, expect a repeat of last year’s madness: anti-teacher rants, gollywogs for sale, live arms and archery training for kids, and bizarre wannabe-pagan historical revisionism. The land itself, sabotaged and padlocked by antifascists in mid-July, is owned by farmer Alan Warner, who claims this will be the last time RWB is held at this address. We here at the Bath Bomb hope so.
Derbyshire Council exhibit a bit more backbone than B&NES (see Bath Bomb #23), and are teaming up with trade unions, UAF and other antifascists/anti-racists to mobilise against the festival, with a 9am picket and 12 noon peaceful march meeting at Codnor Denby Lane – though details may change closer to the date (Ffi:
nobnpfestival@riseup.net).
Meanwhile, in Swindon that same day, the homophobic and racist Thames Valley and Wiltshire National Front will be showing their ugly mugs to disrupt the Swindon Gay Pride festival, taking place at Swindon’s Old Town Gardens from 12 noon ‘til 10pm. Although much diminished elsewhere, the boneheads seem to have a strong organised presence in Swindon with regular meetings and flyposting, alongside the BNP and new anti-capitalist, white supremacist youth group the English Resistance. The sooner dealt with, the better.
http://www.nobnpfestival.wordpress.com
http://www.swindonnf.blogspot.com
Banksy: Sold Out, Not Sell Out
Responses to Banksy's recent exhibition (open ‘til the 31st August) has been mixed, with some applauding his innovative art styles and political satire, while others criticise his move into the mainstream as 'selling out'. But has he really abandoned his radical routes for a cushy life amongst the art establishment he claims to hate so much?
I would argue that Banksy has hurt no one on his rise to fame, and while his work’s being exhibited in a gallery, it is his legacy that needs to be taken into account when passing judgment. Banksy started his career as an obscure artist getting chased out of train yards for tagging trains. From there, he developed cult status in the South West for politically-charged and humorous stencilwork. It’s largely thanks to Banksy and his contempories that swathes of the nation have changed their views on graffiti, seeing it now as valid art, rather than mindless vandalism. Banksy has challenged the perceptions of a nation, not only on the subject of street art, but also on the radical anti-establishment message of his work.
Besides, the Bristol Museum is publicly funded, and entry to the exhibition is free – so what has Banksy done that he would not otherwise do? He has taken over a public space, brightened it up and made it accessible for all to see, with the added joy of hunting down all the pieces hidden amongst the stuffy paintings and stuffed fauna. If he was parading his work in a for-profit fancy gallery, then his detractors may have a point, but as it stands, he is still using public space to bring free and thought-provoking work to the masses, albeit in a slightly less radical way than we have come to expect.
And if you do go, don't let any long queue put you off; get involved with the People's Republic of Stokes Croft's project and produce your own artwork while you wait.
Banksy: Sell Out, Not Sold Out
“The thing I hate most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative, young people, leaving us only with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.”
That Banksy can be quoted as saying this without an apparent trace of irony or self-reflection sums all that irritates me about him. His current exhibition at the Bristol Museum makes this quote even more painful. The exhibition is called Banksy vs. Bristol Museum - Sticking it to the Man as always, right, Banksy? He's quoted in the Bristol Post as saying “I could have taken the show to a lot of places, but they do a very nice cup of tea in the museum.". It's so 'self-deprecating' and 'self-aware' and 'ironic' that it makes me want to scream. “Oh, you know, like, galleries man...my art's all about the street and the people and shit, I wuz only going in to use the bog but then they lured little old me in with a cup of tea”. Banksy has been quoted as clearly stating that gallery shows are a step backwards – so why do them? The exhibition is free and un-copyrighted so money doesn't seem hugely central. To get his 'message' across? But he's also been quoted as saying that “Graffiti has more chance of meaning something or changing stuff than anything indoors.”
Firstly, graffiti can be read as a power tactic used by the underprivileged in order to find a way of expressing themselves in a structure that does not recognise them as valid, relevant entities. By working with those in power, I fail to see how his various “anti-” messages are not contaminated. If the socio-cultural elite are allowing you into their sphere, are you really achieving your goal? Or are they conferring a patronisingly moderate amount of 'legitimisation', agreeing nicely that your work is palatable with a spicily piquant side order of anti-authoritarian edginess but without the ring-sting of meaningful accusation, challenge and calls to action?
Secondly, his messages are just not that bloody clever. They're quite clever but not that clever. A friend mentioned a piece called Angel of The North and instantly, I was able to summarise what it was before she described it (It's a Greek-style statue, staggering home in a tube top and miniskirt holding her shoes with takeaway wrappers littered around ). It's about, you know, like, how like, you might look down on a drunk slag but you know, sometimes, at the same time, underneath, she's also, like, an angel?. Ditto the animal rights pieces, such as the rabbit in a cage putting on makeup. It's clever because, you know, the rabbit is putting on makeup. And, you know, usually rabbits have makeup put on them. It's clever.
This tactic of faux-naive-but-still-naive simplicity (“How could we have not so clearly understood these glaring acts of oppression and underprivilege before?! My goodness, are we all blind?”) is so horribly teenage and condescending and first-order. Banksy has exhorted us to “Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it [sic].” And yet here we see him cutting out “OMG U SUCK” out of the box with round-ended kiddy scissors handed to him by the adults.
Let me be clear, I do enjoy his work. It's interesting-looking enough to make my head turn and then grunt appreciatively in recognition. But this masturbatory worship of him, inspired by the recognition that here's someone else who, you know, thinks about stuff makes my ears steam.
With every gallery show Banksy takes part in, he shows just how much a part of the modern art world he is, clumsily and boringly making the epigraph above an obituary to his efforts whilst nestling down quietly into his box like a good boy.
Theory Corner: What Is Anarchy?
What do you think of when someone mentions ‘anarchy’? Chances are, visions of chaos and disorder flood your mind; yet most anarchists would strongly disagree. From the Greek ‘anarkos’, anarchy literally translates as ‘without leaders,’ and refers to the idea that society is capable of governing itself without people telling us what to do. Many anarchists envisage a society in which people organise themselves and work towards a public good rather than slaving away to make someone else rich or powerful. Sounds far fetched? Well, it is a far cry from today’s society, but it really is simpler than many would think. Anyone who has worked in a factory, school, or almost anywhere else will know that it is the workers who make the workplace tick while the boss does little but issue rules and cream off the profits. In fact, the Fabricas Sin Patrones (‘factories without bosses’) movement in Argentina is a case in point. Since 'firing' their bosses, the factories (employing 1000's of people in dozens of sectors) have all increased productivity, employment and wages; the former Zanon factory has even saved enough money to build a local community hospital – money that otherwise would have filled the boss’s pocket. There are numerous other examples – the Paris Commune of 1871, Ukraine 1920, Spain 1936, and present day Zapatista-controlled Mexico – that show how people are perfectly capable of creating a peaceful and highly organised society without the 'help' of self-serving bosses and politicians.
Anarchists argue that it is illogical to put power in the hands of a small minority who have shown that they have no regard for the wider majority. Many ask “what would happen without police to keep us safe?” Anarchists would argue that even if the police do occasionally catch criminals after a crime has been committed, they don’t prevent the crime, and most crime is a direct cause of the alienation, poverty and despair generated by the state-capitalist system that the police prop up. There is no reason that we cannot protect ourselves or deal with dangerous people in an anarchist society - we just have to take responsibility for safeguarding our own communities, rather than entrusting the job to crooked, inefficient cops. A little known fact is that the ‘O’ circling the ‘A’ in the famous 'circle A' symbol stands for 'Order,' completing the anarchists’ rallying cry 'Anarchy is order! Capitalism is chaos!'
The Future Is Not What It Used To Be
The end of this year will see government officials descending on Copenhagen for the UN ‘Kyoto 2’ climate summit, billed as "our last chance to save the planet". Yet the same system that caused the financial meltdown is also causing climate chaos, and we cannot rely on their fake solutions – the time for action is now, and we must take it ourselves. This summer is already looking packed:
On August 27th, thousands of people will converge on a field in London to take the site of this year's Camp For Climate Action with a flashmob-inspired swoop. The week will include workshops on climate science and direct action techniques to help campers team up, get trained and take action on the root causes of climate change. And watch this space for news of a public mass action on coal, in late October.
Closer to home, Climate Camp Cymru will be setting up near Merthyr Tydfil's controversial Ffos-y-Fran, the UK’s largest open-cast coal mine, on August the 13th. Join us for four days of sustainable living, workshops and direct action.
And, for more skillshares but less aggro, why not check out the Earth First! Summer Gathering in Cumbria, on the 18th to the 24th of August. And don’t forget the Co-Mutiny week of action in Bristol from the 13th to the 19th of September. More details to follow.
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk
http://climatecampcymru.org
http://www.comutiny.wordpress.com
http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk
Greece Is The Word
We all remember the headlines back in December: “rioting in Greece”, “15 year-old-shot dead by Greek police”, and we also remember the near two months of solid rioting that followed. What I'll bet most of us don't know, however, is what’s happening now. The story is inspiring, and shockingly unreported by the mainstream press. Greece is still burning, but now it is imagination and creativity that is fanning the flames. When people find themselves free of authority, revelry generally follows as a spontaneous celebration of freedom – what then comes is a period of reflection in which people decide what to do with their new found freedom, as is now the case in Greece. The anti-authoritarian movement there is bigger than ever, with universities and workplaces occupied by students and workers, and swathes of Greek cities still anarchist-controlled no-go zones for cops. The government is finding itself irrelevant to people’s needs and, sensing its fading grasp on power, has combined the police with the Greek Neo-Nazis, who’ve been working hand in hand to attack immigrants, anarchist protests and social centres. While these attacks have been easily defeated, they demonstrate the desperate lengths to which the Greek state has gone to find allies.
The people of Greece are beginning to take back control of their lives, experimenting with a new and fairer way of living and organising, and the results look set to be spectacular. From the blood of a murdered 15-year-old, a movement has been born, and a country is being wrestled back to the hands of the Greek people where it belongs.
http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog
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@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #24
free/donation
July 09
“Working within the framework of the truth”
Come On, Let's Fry!
Despite being unable to handle current flights, Bristol airport is expanding. BIA plan to increase passengers and flights by expanding the terminal, while the green fields around the site are set to become a car park. Factor in the increase in noise pollution in the flight path, 60% increased traffic, and the £700 million the UK loses annually, as more holidaymakers fly out of Bristol than fly in.
In order to prevent the worst effects of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions must peak in 2015, yet the UK Government want to more than triple the capacity of airports by 2030. Hmmm. Meanwhile, Ed Miliband recently assured frequent flyers that half of UK emissions will be offset by paying poor countries to emit less. Come on Ed, how long do you expect the rest of the world to take the consequences of our lifestyle? Carbon trading and offsetting are nothing more than false solutions and delaying tactics – they cannot stop devastating climate change.
To help stop BIA's plans, visit the regular Bath Friends of the Earth stalls in Green Park Farmers Market, or submit an objection by August 13th, quoting ref: 09/P/1020/OT2 – see
http://www.stopbia.com/objection for ideas. http://www.nobristolairportexpansion.co.uk Foie Gras Protesters Turn Up The Heat…
…But Minibar owners still refuse to get out the kitchen.
Earlier in the month, anti-foie gras activists completed a four-day solid picket outside overpriced tapas restaurant Minibar on John Street, which continues to trick gullible toffs into paying good money for the diseased and distended livers of tortured and mistreated ducks. The escalation of the long-running campaign was called after Minibar entered their third month of weekly protests.
Although impressively obstinate about their democratic right to profit from the abuse of defenceless animals, Minibar have been looking decidedly shaky for a while, and it is hoped that increasing the pressure can speed the end of the campaign – and the end of the inconvenience their reticence has been causing for local businesses and residents. Concurrent to the increased pickets, a phone-in-and-complain campaign has been playing havoc with the restaurant’s time management, and has sparked some amusingly obscene tirades from co-owner and head chef Alexander Grant (01225 333 323, Tue-Sat 12-2:30 and 6-10pm).
Alex, who has responded to all peaceful overtures with threats and lies, has accused protestors of ‘bullying tactics’. Presumably leafleting his customers regularly loses us the moral high ground, whereas shoving people into roads, threatening to push a complaining potential customer down the stairs, having his crazy mate hit a protestor in his fancy 4x4, and crying to the (increasingly embarrassed-seeming) police every time someone signs a petition, allows him to keep it.
www.banfoiegras.org.uk/
www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/foiegras/index.html
EVENTS
Bath Hunt Saboteurs meetings, 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, 8pm, The Bell, Walcot Street
London Road Food Co-op, Wednesdays, 4-7pm, Riverside Community Centre, London Road
Debt advice drop-in, Wednesdays, 4-7pm, Twerton social centre, Day Crescent
The Lost Plot workday, Thursdays, 10am-dusk, Bathampton
Anti-foie gras demo, Fridays, meet Queen Square 7pm
Bath Stop The War Coalition vigil, Saturdays, 11.30am-12.30, Bath Abbey Courtyard
Bath Cycling Campaign meeting, Monday 20th July, venue TBC, 7.30pm,
http://www.bathcyclingcampaign.org.uk Anti-arms demo, Wednesday 22nd July, UV Europe Conference, Celtic Manor Hotel, Newport, South Wales, 9am onwards
Transition Drinks, Wednesday 22th July, 8pm, upstairs at The Raven
Bath Stop the War Coalition meeting, Wednesday 22nd July, Friends Meeting House, York Street, 8pm
Green Drinks Bike Ride, Wednesday 22nd July, meeting Norfolk Crescent Bath 6pm, depart 6.15pm
Peace News Summer Camp, Thursday 23rd – Monday 27th July, near Faringdon, Oxfordshire, £15-50 entry,
http://www.peacenewscamp.info or 0845 458 2564. Recycle Your Sundays, Sunday 26th July, the regular series of sociable, easy-paced cycle rides, www.rysbath.org.uk/Hazel 01225 469199
French Climate Camp Monday, Monday 3rd August – Sunday 9th August, France,
http://www.campclimat.org Bath Friends of the Earth meeting, Monday 3rd August, 8pm, Stillpoint, Broad Street Place, Broad Street
Belgian/Dutch Climate Action Camp, Monday 3rd August - Sunday 9th August, near Antwerp,
http://www.klimaatactiekamp.org Bath Animal Action meeting, Wednesday 5th August, 7.30-8.30pm, backroom of The Bell, Walcot Street
Bath Activist Network meeting, Thursday 6th August, 7.30-9pm, downstairs at The Hobgoblin, St James Parade
Bath FreeShop, Saturday 8th August, 12-3pm, outside Pump Rooms, Stall Street
Broadlands Orchardshare Volunteering Day, Saturday 8th August, 12-4pm, Broadlands Orchard, Box Road, Bathford, email broadlandsorchardshare [at] googlemail.com or phone 07532 472 256
Recycle Your Sundays, Sunday 9th August, the regular series of sociable, easy-paced cycle rides, www.rysbath.org.uk/Hazel 01225 469199
Bath Greenpeace meeting, Monday 10th August, 7.30-9pm, Stillpoint, Broad Street Place
The Camp for Climate Action in Scotland, Monday 3rd – Tuesday 11th August, Scotland,
http://climatecampscotland.org.uk Transition Open Forum, Tuesday 11th August, 7pm, Widcombe Social Club
Bath Green Drinks, Wednesday 12th August, 8.30pm, Rising Sun, Grove Street
BIA objection deadline, Thursday 13th August,
http://www.nobristolairportexpansion.co.uk Cymru Climate Camp, Thursday 13th – Sunday 16th August, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales,
http://www.climatecampcymru.org Film: Life in Zimbabwe – One Nun, One Mum, Saturday 15th August, St Alphege’s School Hall, Oldfield Lane, 7.30pm, £5 per person/£12 per family, inc. Zimbabwean food, tel Shelagh 07867 500 583/email shelaghh [at] live.co.uk
Earth First! Summer Gathering, Tuesday 18th – Monday 24th August, Cumbria,
http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk Paul Baker-Hernandez Concert for Peace, Wednesday 19th August, Friends Meeting House, York Street, 7.30pm
Greek No Borders Camp, Tuesday 25th August – Monday 31st August, Lesvos, Greece,
http://lesvos09.antira.info The Camp for Climate Action 2009, Thursday 27th August – Wednesday 2nd September, London,
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk Bath Vegan Fayre, Saturday 29th August, Percy Community Centre, New King Street, 12 til 3pm
Bristol Anarchist Bookfair, Saturday 12th September, The Island, Silver Street, Bristol, 10.30am-7pm,
http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org Bristol Co-Mutiny: Social Change Not Climate Change gathering, Sunday 13th September – Saturday 19th September,
http://www.comutiny.wordpress.com International Day of Climate Action, Saturday 24th October,
http://www.350.org/ oct24 Calais Melee
From the 23rd-29th June, protestors from across France and the UK, including Bath and Bristol, gathered in Calais to protest against their governments’ treatment of migrants. A camp was set up and defended against angry riot cops employing tear gas and concussion grenades, and several small actions (including highly seditious activities such as leafleting) were brutally suppressed by similarly angry police with batons and pistols. However, the Losquin detention centre in Lille was blockaded by 30 protesters in arm tubes, and the main march went ahead peacefully once a few inconvenient police lines had been brushed aside. Oh, and a frankly disturbing amount of cheap French wine was consumed by mildly traumatized activists who hadn’t been fully prepared for the intensity of French policing.
Every year, indoctrinated into thinking of the UK as some sort of promised land by post-colonial education systems, and speaking no European languages other than English, hundreds of refugees arrive at Calais, hoping to reach England. The British government, whose big-business friends make millions profiting from undocumented workers, goes to extreme lengths to prevent them from entering the country legally. Trapped in Calais, they are at the mercy of the openly-racist French riot police, who regularly beat migrants, torch their houses, and attempt to prevent them accessing food and water. Only through mass direct action – such as the Afghans’ well-defended shantytown or the Africans’ threats to claim asylum in France en-masse if threatened with mass deportations - and through visible public support, such as the No Borders Camp, are further, worse atrocities prevented.
Whilst British plans for a new ‘E-Borders’ scheme (involving fingerprint scans and a 53-point interrogation of addresses, phone numbers and card details for anyone leaving mainland Britain) are being hatched, the actions of the French government in Calais are illegal, a violation of UN-declared human rights, and amount to ethnic cleansing. It is the duty of all right-thinking people to demand an end to this abomination.
In breaking news, as we go to print, the British and French governments are combining forces to bulldoze away the homes of up to 1,800 migrants in an area of Calais referred to as ‘The Jungle’ from the 21st…
http://calaisnoborder.eu.org http://www.calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com Another Sainsburys? Piss Off, M'lord!
The community of Moreland Road is soon set to be shattered by a most unwelcome arrival, in the form of a new Sainsburys’ store at the old Woolworths site. Moreland Road is a diverse and vibrant community, with local traders selling everything you could possibly need – from a top notch hardware store to the local bakers, grocers, charity shops, newsagents, a top quality wholefoods store and a truly legendary curry house. But with Sainsburys’ having the money to undercut all of these local traders, how long will it be before it turns into yet another sterile ghost town? Sainsburys’ argue that they will create jobs and choice, but how much will be lost once this monolith rolls in and crushes the existing traders? Sainsburys’ have a horrific ethical track record, with their boss Lord Sainsbury (science minister for New Labour) investing in vivisection, GM crops, Israeli produce and the like. But we can stop this nightmare future now not with boycotts, but with celebration. Let’s ignore Sainsburys, and pretend it is not there, while we revel in the community already on offer on there. Sainsburys, Tescos and all their bastard breed rely on our apathy, on the fact that we will flood zombie-like into their cavernous neon bellies chanting 'bargains, convenience, cost', so let’s show them that we don't need them.
Or how else can we stop them? Well, the old Woollies has just had its windows put through, and we bet Sainsburys will have nice unguarded pane glass, too: just some local food for thought!
Bath Activist Network are a local umbrella group campaigning on issues as diverse as development, environmentalism, anti-war, animal rights, workers’ rights and more. Helping to produce The Bath Bomb, we are open to anyone, and our members range from trade unionists to anarchists, liberals to greens, and people who just want to change Bath for the better. For details on meetings, demos, or just to get in touch, email bathactivistnet [at] yahoo.co.uk, or see our website:
http://www.bathactivistnetwork.blogspot.com Dedicated Swallowers Of Fascism
Last year, antifascists from all round the UK converged on Derbyshire to oppose the BNP’s Red, White & Blue festival and, BAN activists will be making a return trip on Saturday the 15th August. The community pleaded with organiser David Shapcott (of 6 The Spinney, Burnley in Lancashire) to cancel the festival, and even the police refused every bit of license they could, but to no avail, and the stubborn little racist is at it again. Taking place from the 13th to the 15th at the Bungalow, Codnor Denby Lane, Denby Village in Derbyshire, expect a repeat of last year’s madness: anti-teacher rants, gollywogs for sale, live arms and archery training for kids, and bizarre wannabe-pagan historical revisionism. The land itself, sabotaged and padlocked by antifascists in mid-July, is owned by farmer Alan Warner, who claims this will be the last time RWB is held at this address. We here at the Bath Bomb hope so.
Derbyshire Council exhibit a bit more backbone than B&NES (see Bath Bomb #23), and are teaming up with trade unions, UAF and other antifascists/anti-racists to mobilise against the festival, with a 9am picket and 12 noon peaceful march meeting at Codnor Denby Lane – though details may change closer to the date (Ffi:
nobnpfestival@riseup.net). Meanwhile, in Swindon that same day, the homophobic and racist Thames Valley and Wiltshire National Front will be showing their ugly mugs to disrupt the Swindon Gay Pride festival, taking place at Swindon’s Old Town Gardens from 12 noon ‘til 10pm. Although much diminished elsewhere, the boneheads seem to have a strong organised presence in Swindon with regular meetings and flyposting, alongside the BNP and new anti-capitalist, white supremacist youth group the English Resistance. The sooner dealt with, the better.
http://www.nobnpfestival.wordpress.com http://www.swindonnf.blogspot.com Banksy: Sold Out, Not Sell Out
Responses to Banksy's recent exhibition (open ‘til the 31st August) has been mixed, with some applauding his innovative art styles and political satire, while others criticise his move into the mainstream as 'selling out'. But has he really abandoned his radical routes for a cushy life amongst the art establishment he claims to hate so much?
I would argue that Banksy has hurt no one on his rise to fame, and while his work’s being exhibited in a gallery, it is his legacy that needs to be taken into account when passing judgment. Banksy started his career as an obscure artist getting chased out of train yards for tagging trains. From there, he developed cult status in the South West for politically-charged and humorous stencilwork. It’s largely thanks to Banksy and his contempories that swathes of the nation have changed their views on graffiti, seeing it now as valid art, rather than mindless vandalism. Banksy has challenged the perceptions of a nation, not only on the subject of street art, but also on the radical anti-establishment message of his work.
Besides, the Bristol Museum is publicly funded, and entry to the exhibition is free – so what has Banksy done that he would not otherwise do? He has taken over a public space, brightened it up and made it accessible for all to see, with the added joy of hunting down all the pieces hidden amongst the stuffy paintings and stuffed fauna. If he was parading his work in a for-profit fancy gallery, then his detractors may have a point, but as it stands, he is still using public space to bring free and thought-provoking work to the masses, albeit in a slightly less radical way than we have come to expect.
And if you do go, don't let any long queue put you off; get involved with the People's Republic of Stokes Croft's project and produce your own artwork while you wait.
Banksy: Sell Out, Not Sold Out
“The thing I hate most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative, young people, leaving us only with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.”
That Banksy can be quoted as saying this without an apparent trace of irony or self-reflection sums all that irritates me about him. His current exhibition at the Bristol Museum makes this quote even more painful. The exhibition is called Banksy vs. Bristol Museum - Sticking it to the Man as always, right, Banksy? He's quoted in the Bristol Post as saying “I could have taken the show to a lot of places, but they do a very nice cup of tea in the museum.". It's so 'self-deprecating' and 'self-aware' and 'ironic' that it makes me want to scream. “Oh, you know, like, galleries man...my art's all about the street and the people and shit, I wuz only going in to use the bog but then they lured little old me in with a cup of tea”. Banksy has been quoted as clearly stating that gallery shows are a step backwards – so why do them? The exhibition is free and un-copyrighted so money doesn't seem hugely central. To get his 'message' across? But he's also been quoted as saying that “Graffiti has more chance of meaning something or changing stuff than anything indoors.”
Firstly, graffiti can be read as a power tactic used by the underprivileged in order to find a way of expressing themselves in a structure that does not recognise them as valid, relevant entities. By working with those in power, I fail to see how his various “anti-” messages are not contaminated. If the socio-cultural elite are allowing you into their sphere, are you really achieving your goal? Or are they conferring a patronisingly moderate amount of 'legitimisation', agreeing nicely that your work is palatable with a spicily piquant side order of anti-authoritarian edginess but without the ring-sting of meaningful accusation, challenge and calls to action?
Secondly, his messages are just not that bloody clever. They're quite clever but not that clever. A friend mentioned a piece called Angel of The North and instantly, I was able to summarise what it was before she described it (It's a Greek-style statue, staggering home in a tube top and miniskirt holding her shoes with takeaway wrappers littered around ). It's about, you know, like, how like, you might look down on a drunk slag but you know, sometimes, at the same time, underneath, she's also, like, an angel?. Ditto the animal rights pieces, such as the rabbit in a cage putting on makeup. It's clever because, you know, the rabbit is putting on makeup. And, you know, usually rabbits have makeup put on them. It's clever.
This tactic of faux-naive-but-still-naive simplicity (“How could we have not so clearly understood these glaring acts of oppression and underprivilege before?! My goodness, are we all blind?”) is so horribly teenage and condescending and first-order. Banksy has exhorted us to “Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it [sic].” And yet here we see him cutting out “OMG U SUCK” out of the box with round-ended kiddy scissors handed to him by the adults.
Let me be clear, I do enjoy his work. It's interesting-looking enough to make my head turn and then grunt appreciatively in recognition. But this masturbatory worship of him, inspired by the recognition that here's someone else who, you know, thinks about stuff makes my ears steam.
With every gallery show Banksy takes part in, he shows just how much a part of the modern art world he is, clumsily and boringly making the epigraph above an obituary to his efforts whilst nestling down quietly into his box like a good boy.
Theory Corner: What Is Anarchy?
What do you think of when someone mentions ‘anarchy’? Chances are, visions of chaos and disorder flood your mind; yet most anarchists would strongly disagree. From the Greek ‘anarkos’, anarchy literally translates as ‘without leaders,’ and refers to the idea that society is capable of governing itself without people telling us what to do. Many anarchists envisage a society in which people organise themselves and work towards a public good rather than slaving away to make someone else rich or powerful. Sounds far fetched? Well, it is a far cry from today’s society, but it really is simpler than many would think. Anyone who has worked in a factory, school, or almost anywhere else will know that it is the workers who make the workplace tick while the boss does little but issue rules and cream off the profits. In fact, the Fabricas Sin Patrones (‘factories without bosses’) movement in Argentina is a case in point. Since 'firing' their bosses, the factories (employing 1000's of people in dozens of sectors) have all increased productivity, employment and wages; the former Zanon factory has even saved enough money to build a local community hospital – money that otherwise would have filled the boss’s pocket. There are numerous other examples – the Paris Commune of 1871, Ukraine 1920, Spain 1936, and present day Zapatista-controlled Mexico – that show how people are perfectly capable of creating a peaceful and highly organised society without the 'help' of self-serving bosses and politicians.
Anarchists argue that it is illogical to put power in the hands of a small minority who have shown that they have no regard for the wider majority. Many ask “what would happen without police to keep us safe?” Anarchists would argue that even if the police do occasionally catch criminals after a crime has been committed, they don’t prevent the crime, and most crime is a direct cause of the alienation, poverty and despair generated by the state-capitalist system that the police prop up. There is no reason that we cannot protect ourselves or deal with dangerous people in an anarchist society - we just have to take responsibility for safeguarding our own communities, rather than entrusting the job to crooked, inefficient cops. A little known fact is that the ‘O’ circling the ‘A’ in the famous 'circle A' symbol stands for 'Order,' completing the anarchists’ rallying cry 'Anarchy is order! Capitalism is chaos!'
The Future Is Not What It Used To Be
The end of this year will see government officials descending on Copenhagen for the UN ‘Kyoto 2’ climate summit, billed as "our last chance to save the planet". Yet the same system that caused the financial meltdown is also causing climate chaos, and we cannot rely on their fake solutions – the time for action is now, and we must take it ourselves. This summer is already looking packed:
On August 27th, thousands of people will converge on a field in London to take the site of this year's Camp For Climate Action with a flashmob-inspired swoop. The week will include workshops on climate science and direct action techniques to help campers team up, get trained and take action on the root causes of climate change. And watch this space for news of a public mass action on coal, in late October.
Closer to home, Climate Camp Cymru will be setting up near Merthyr Tydfil's controversial Ffos-y-Fran, the UK’s largest open-cast coal mine, on August the 13th. Join us for four days of sustainable living, workshops and direct action.
And, for more skillshares but less aggro, why not check out the Earth First! Summer Gathering in Cumbria, on the 18th to the 24th of August. And don’t forget the Co-Mutiny week of action in Bristol from the 13th to the 19th of September. More details to follow.
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk http://climatecampcymru.org http://www.comutiny.wordpress.com http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk Greece Is The Word
We all remember the headlines back in December: “rioting in Greece”, “15 year-old-shot dead by Greek police”, and we also remember the near two months of solid rioting that followed. What I'll bet most of us don't know, however, is what’s happening now. The story is inspiring, and shockingly unreported by the mainstream press. Greece is still burning, but now it is imagination and creativity that is fanning the flames. When people find themselves free of authority, revelry generally follows as a spontaneous celebration of freedom – what then comes is a period of reflection in which people decide what to do with their new found freedom, as is now the case in Greece. The anti-authoritarian movement there is bigger than ever, with universities and workplaces occupied by students and workers, and swathes of Greek cities still anarchist-controlled no-go zones for cops. The government is finding itself irrelevant to people’s needs and, sensing its fading grasp on power, has combined the police with the Greek Neo-Nazis, who’ve been working hand in hand to attack immigrants, anarchist protests and social centres. While these attacks have been easily defeated, they demonstrate the desperate lengths to which the Greek state has gone to find allies.
The people of Greece are beginning to take back control of their lives, experimenting with a new and fairer way of living and organising, and the results look set to be spectacular. From the blood of a murdered 15-year-old, a movement has been born, and a country is being wrestled back to the hands of the Greek people where it belongs.
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BBJ