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Bath Bomb #25 Out Now

BBJ | 11.09.2009 19:47 | Anti-racism | Bio-technology | Climate Chaos

Well, we've had a month's hiatus and put our feet up, but now Bath's monthly radical freesheet is back in the press, typos and all...

THE BATH BOMB
@nti-copyright: copy and distribute!
Issue #25
free/donation
Sept 09

“Now with 100% MORE content than last month!”

Come One! Come All! Co-Mutiny!

Saturday the 12th of September will usher in the start of a week of creative activism, piratical pranks, workshops, dreaming, scheming and general rebellion in the Bristol area – yes, the Co-Mutiny has come to town! The Co-Mutiny week will feature a huge number of debates, workshops, protest and direct action on the themes of climate chaos, workers’ rights, animal rights, migration controls and more. Whether you want to sit down and discuss green futures, support striking workers, learn to bake vegan cakes, take part in direct action and much more, there will be something for you. The full schedule is online at  http://www.comutiny.wordpress.com, but Bath Bomb’s highlights of the week are:

* The Bristol Anarchist Bookfair – Saturday the 12th, 10.30-6pm, at The Island, Bridewell St, Bristol: a perfect way to kick off the week, with dozens of stalls offering books, t-shirts, info, donation-based food and meetings all centered around everything you ever wanted to know about anarchy that the BBC wouldn’t tell you!
* Radical knitting – Tues 15th, Co-Mutiny convergence space, 6.30pm onwards: a beginners’ guide to that classic DIY activity, knitting – including a ‘knit your own balaclava’ workshop!
* 2nd Bristol Anarchist Olympics, Weds 16th, meeting at Stokes Croft roundabout, 3pm onwards: the last one was wicked, and this promises to be even better, so join the anarchist Olympiads as they turn the grey streets and soulless shopping centres of Bristol into staging grounds for fun and frivolity, featuring classics such as ‘Starbucks Musical Chairs’, ‘Department Store Sardines’ and ‘Shopping Mall Capture the Flag’. A great time is guaranteed!
* Repossess the Banks – Friday the 18th, meeting 11am at the fountains in Bristol city centre – this promises to be one of the bigger Co-Mutiny protests – a chance to get your own back at the greedy banks that have been ripping us off for so long and are the main cause of recession. There will be a carnivalesque bloc on the parade as well as plenty of other groups – not to be missed!

As if the above isn’t enough for you, there are loads more events taking place across Bristol over the week, so book it off work, kill your boss, fake an illness or do whatever it takes to get yourself down to a week that you – or the authorities – aren’t going to forget for a long time!

Biofuels Bollocks

Within the next two months, construction will begin on an agrofuel plant in Beckton, East London, run by Bath's own greenwash peddlers Blue NG. Blue NG promote European rapeseed oil as a sustainable fuel despite the fact it pushes up demand for the controversial palm oil. It's not even green - nitrous oxide emissions (nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide) and soil depletion have a devastating impact on the environment.

Beckton already has the highest mortality rate for asthma in people under 30 in England. This will only get worse, given that agrofuel processing releases tiny particulates that are linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. The plant will be built just 190m from a primary school.

Could be worse, though - palm oil production has been linked to land grabs, human rights abuses and starvation in poor majority-world countries. Over 70% of food price inflation is caused by agrofuel production. At least the people of Beckton were only ignored when they submitted their petition against the new plant. Indigenous people in impoverished countries, defending their land from corporate takeover, have been shot.

Another oil often used as fuel by some companies comes from an Indian plant called jatropha. It's claimed this weed can grow anywhere, in wastelands with little water. In reality, indigenous farmers are often kicked off their land so jatropha can be grown there, and jatropha is just as inefficient in terms of water use as other biofuels. Despite this it's being promoted as a ‘green’ fuel and used to justify airport expansion.

Bath Activist Network and Action Against Agrofuels recently held a public debate on the ethics of biofuel production. We had been trying to arrange a debate with Blue NG, and when they failed to reply to a letter sent over a month ago, we arranged a venue ourselves and invited them along. It's a shame they didn’t turn up - this is a local company and the public should be able to talk to them about what they're doing.

 http://www.biofuelwatch.org

Bath Bomb Vocabulary Corner: greenwash – n, a cynical form of marketing that promotes a company or product as engaging in activities that benefit the environment and are socially conscious, when in fact the opposite result is true

Blue NG: The Writing’s On The Wall

At the beginning of the month, local climate criminals Blue NG were visited by activists who gave their driveway a much needed chalk makeover informing the public of the social and environmental dangers of the biofuels produced by Blue NG (for more info on the dangers of biofuels, check out the 'Biofuels Bollocks' article). Messages included ‘food not biofuels’, ‘biofuels trash the planet’ and ‘your greenwash won’t biofool the public’. Messages were also left expressing support for councillors and residents in the working class community of Southall in London who overwhelmingly voted down Blue NG plans to build a massively polluting biofuel refinery in the area.

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

The Lost Plot workday, Thursdays, 10am-dusk, Bathampton

Bath Stop The War Coalition vigil, Saturdays, 11.30am-12.30, Bath Abbey Courtyard

Recycle Your Sundays, Sundays, the regular series of sociable, easy-paced cycle rides,  http://www.rysbath.org.uk, or phone Hazel 01225 469199

Introduction to Permaculture Weekend, Friday the 11th to Sunday 13th September, starting 7pm, £50, phone Peter Andrews 07817 967837 or e-mail: peter [at] eco-logicbooks.com

Bristol Anarchist Bookfair, Saturday 12th September, 10.30am – 7pm, The Island, Bridewell Street, Bristol,  http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org

Bath Organic Garden buffet, Sunday 13th September, 1pm, Bath Organic Garden community garden, see  http://www.bathorganicgroup.org.uk

Wales and South West hunt saboteurs regional meeting, Sunday 13th September, 12-5pm, the Porter, George Street

Bristol Co-Mutiny: Social Change Not Climate Change, Sunday 13th September to Sunday 20th September,  http://www.comutiny.wordpress.com

Bath Animal Action meeting, Monday 14th September, 8-9pm, the Bell, Walcot Street

Transition Bath Young People meeting, Monday 14th September, 5.30pm, 55 New King Street

2nd Bristol Anarchist Olympics, Wednesday 16th September, 3pm, meet Stokes Croft roundabout

Repossess the Banks demo, Friday 18th September, 11am, meet at the fountains, Bristol city centre

Bath Cycling Campaign meeting, Monday 21st September, the Rising Sun, Grove Street, 7.30pm,  http://www.bathcyclingcampaign.org.uk

Transition Drinks, Wednesday 23rd September, 8pm, upstairs at the Raven

Talk: ‘Self Knowledge and Global Responsibility – Towards a Unified Vision’, Saturday 26th September, the Minerva Centre, Bath, phone 01225 315591 or e-mail minervacentrebath [at] hotmail.com,  http://www.minervacentrebath.co.uk

IWW South West branch meeting, Saturday 26th September, 7pm, Railway Workers’ Association Club

Transition Bath Food Group talk: ‘Farming in a Changing Climate’, Wednesday 30th September, 7.30pm, Grove St. Church Halls, £3

Bath Activist Network meeting, Thursday 1st October, 7.30-9pm, downstairs at the Hobgoblin, St James Parade

Exhibition: ‘C Words: Carbon, Climate, Capital, Culture’, Saturday 3rd October to Sunday 29th November,  http://www.arnolfini.org.uk

Bath FreeShop, Saturday 10th October, 12-3pm, outside Pump Rooms, Stall Street

Broadlands Orchardshare Volunteering Day, Saturday 10th October, 12-4pm, Broadlands Orchard, Box Road, Bathford, email broadlandsorchardshare [at] googlemail.com or phone 07532 472 256

Bath Green Drinks, Wednesday 14th October, 8.30pm, the Rising Sun, Grove Street

The Great Climate Swoop, Saturday 17th-18th October, Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station

Workshops/lectures day: ‘From the Ashes of the Crash – Rebuilding with the New Economics’, Saturday 17th October, The Council House, Bristol, £35/£25 entry,  http://www.schumacher.org.uk

350.org dinner, Monday 19th October, 7.30pm, The Eastern Eye on Milsom Street, advance booking required

Transition Keynsham film: ‘The Power of Community’, Thursday 22nd October, 7.30pm, Royal British Legion, Charlton Road, Keynsham, £3 entry, phone Laura 07970 737760 or e-mail: keynshamt [at] yahoo.co.uk

350.org parade, Saturday 24th October, meeting 2pm at Victoria Park below Crescent

London Anarchist Bookfair, Saturday 24th October, London,  http://www.anarchistbookfair.org

International Day of Climate Action, Saturday 24th October,  http://www.350.org/oct24

Bristol Animal Rights Collective’s free vegan food fayre, Saturday 31st October, phone 07595 745441, or e-mail barc [at] hotmail.co.uk

Bath Friends of the Earth meeting, Monday 2nd November, 8pm, Stillpoint, Broad Street Place, Broad Street

Living The Vegan Loca

Following on from last October, Bath Animal Action put on the Bath Vegan Fayre ’09 at Percy Community Centre on August the 29th. Cranking open the gates at 12, the centre was soon packed out with punters for three hours and a veritable vegan feast: cakes, biscuits, soup, salad, pizza, sausages, burgers, curry, chilli, falafel, bhajis, you name it! In much demand were the vegan cheesecake and fake chicken tikka masala. Food and drink were served throughout the day with sustainable wood cutlery and biodegradable reed fibre bowls and cups, with recycled paper notices and full composting to minimize our environmental impact. As well as stuffing our collective faces and placing bids on the various donated prizes, a forest of info was laid out with a list of local vegan-friendly shops and eateries, and a library of animal rights concerns, such as animal circuses, vivisection and local campaigns.

But why the beancurd would you go vegan? Well, there’s different reasons for different people – with the brutal exploitation endemic in the treatment of animals in all industries, some do it For The Animals. Considering the deforestation, methane emissions and toxic slurry caused by farming, others pop a lentil for mother earth. Others do it for the people, considering the current global famine exacerbated by the mountains of food and water we squander on livestock. Or why not just for yourself; to cut the risk of heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, allergies, cancers and the like.

Good food and good weather were enjoyed by all on the day, and the event looks set to become a repeater. But if you get hungry in the meantime, why not pop over to Bristol on the 31st of October for Bristol Animal Rights Collective’s free vegan food fayre? They're also looking for any potential helpers for either cooking, promotion, distributing fliers and posters or on the day. If so, they'd love to hear from you - email barc [at] hotmail.co.uk or phone/text 07595 745441. And if you want to get involved with BAA, they now meet on the second Monday of the month, 8pm in the Bell.

 http://www.vegansociety.com/home.php
 http://www.viva.org.uk/
 http://www.veganstore.co.uk
 http://www.veggiestuff.com
 http://www.vegetarian.org.uk
 http://www.veganfamily.co.uk
 http://www.veganvillage.co.uk

Giving Fascism The Boot In Swindon

Abject embarrassment for Thames and Wiltshire Valley National Front last month, after they mounted a counter-protest so desultory and under-attended that almost nobody on the Gay Pride march they were opposing even noticed they were there. A force of local anti-fascists, outnumbering the boneheads by three to one, found breaking up the small gatherings of fash much less hassle than anyone had anticipated.

Meanwhile, a confused but determined police force did their best to hassle everybody, despite their inability to actually arrest anyone, or even work out who was on which side. particularly amusing were the spurious reasons given for searches, such as "Your pupils look a bit odd - we'd best check you've got no drugs on you." Apparently, you can no longer search someone just for loitering at the site of a potential riot dressed entirely in black with a hoodie and a facemask.

After a couple of small confrontations, the fash were dispersed and their redirection point by the station left unmanned. Another victory for tolerance!

Breaking News: according to our sources, the threat of anti-fascist presence at Reading Gay Pride has caused Reading NF to wimp out of their planned counter-demo in favour of a ‘national demo’ at some unspecified ‘future date’. Yeah, right. Fuck off home and wank off over pictures of the fuhrer some more, boys.

English Defence League Get Kicked Off The Park Again

As if this country doesn’t have enough tiny groups of fascist oddballs (See Swindon article), bored football hooligans have now joined the fray under the guise of the ‘English Defence League’. Despite claims to ‘not be racist’, ‘not be violent’ and ‘have nothing to do with the BNP’, The EDL have a website designed and run by a BNP member, have gotten into fights (but does losing a fight make you violent?) on all of their outings and their favourite chants include such hits as ‘BNP, BNP, BNP’ and ‘You dirty Muslim bastards’ to anyone darkish walking past their demos. They also claim to only be opposed to Islamic extremism, yet their banners read ‘no more mosques’, ‘no to Islam’ and ‘kick Muslims out’.

What makes this particular BNP front group different from the rest is that they are organised entirely through football hooligan ‘firms’ or gangs (Carlisle hooligans the ‘Border City firm’ couldn’t make it to the demo, so instead beat up a random Asian lad and sent a letter of support to the EDL - ‘Border City Firm couldn’t make the trip with us having a home game today so we got one of the tossers last night’). This shows two things, that the EDL are just violence-hungry idiots who will only stand up for their ‘cause’ when the footie isn’t on, and that their racism is indiscriminate, and has more to do with racial hatred in general than it does fighting the ‘extremists’.

But how does the EDL shape up on the streets? Well, none of their demos have attracted the thousands predicted – in fact their best turnout has been just over 100 beer-bellied shithouse yokels in BNP t-shirts (seriously!). They have always been heavily outnumbered by angry locals and anti-fascists and tend to follow a now familiar pattern of picking on an outnumbered ethnic minority, instigating a street fight, getting the shit kicked out of them by groups of understandably angry Asian lads and antifascist activists, then running to hide behind the police from where they continue to chant shit and play the hardman role for a bit before slinking off, as was the case in Birmingham at the beginning of the month. Despite being a bunch of brainless tossers whose political views come second to football, the EDL are attracting a lot of interest in the press, and as with all fascist groups, the sooner we put it to rest once and for all, the better.

Hell HQ

Two Bath activists joined indigenous Canadians and activists from the Camp for Climate Action at a recent noise demo at Shell's headquarters in London. Not content with stealing land from communities in Nigeria and Ireland, Shell (along with BP) have started a project to exploit tar sand in Canada.

The oil from tar sands takes a massive amount of energy to extract, creating nearly three times as much carbon emissions as normal oil. Entire ancient forests are being torn up, and toxic ponds are being formed that are so vast they can be seen from space. The pollution from this project - which spans an area larger than England - is poisoning the land and water of local indigenous people, who are now dying from rare forms of cancer.

If all the oil from the tar sands is used, it will be enough to push us over the tipping point of 2oC warming into irreversible climate chaos.

This is really worrying. Yeah, we made some noise, raised awareness and someone nicked the 'S' off Shell's sign, but if we have any hope of stopping a corporation this powerful, we urgently need to step things up a level.

History shows that changes can be made by ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The suffragettes and civil rights movement did things that were very illegal but also very necessary. Shell won't change their minds if we talk nicely to them about how mean they're being. The time for being nice is really over.

Another Foie Gras-Blah-Blah-ticle

Congratulations to local restaurant Minibar for taking the conscientious decision to remove foie gras from their menu. The restaurant's owners had made attempts to acquire non-force-fed foie gras from their suppliers for several weeks, but were unable to do so. The decision to remove the pate from sale was then made, to the delight of local group Bath Animal Action.

With only a couple of restaurants in Bath still selling foie gras - an expensive and controversial French dish made from the distended livers of force-fed battery ducks - Animal Action are hoping that their goal of a foie gras free Bath is in sight. Coupled with a lively and sustained campaign of pickets, leafleting and consumer boycotts, a petition to have foie gras banned from Bath completely has now exceeded 1,500 signatures, and will soon be presented to the council.

Meanwhile, Bristol Animal Rights Collective, whose support was vital to the recent success in Bath, have stopped sales of foie gras at a further two restaurants in Bristol. Can a foie gras free South West really be so far away?

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

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BBJ