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WAKE UP!! IT'S YER FULL OF CRAZY DEVELOPMENTS...

SchNEWS, Issue 702, Friday 4th December 2009

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IF YOU'RE NOT SWISS-ED OFF...

AS THOUSANDS CONGREGATE IN GENEVA TO RESIST WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION
MEETING

Ten years on from the ‘Seattle Battle’, about 5,000
people marched through Geneva for the Anti-WTO protest on the 28th
November - and were met with tear gas, grenades and water cannon as
they tried to disrupt the latest WTO Ministerial meeting, aimed at
‘reviving’ world trade. This was part of a week of events,
workshops, and demos involving a convergence of farmers, fishermen,
unionists, and anarchists group from across Europe.

Since Seattle shook the pants of the corporate world (See SchNEWS
239, 240), the WTO hasn’t expanded - a victory of sorts - but it
hasn’t shown any sign of disbanding yet. The number of people
suffering extreme poverty has surged ahead since the organisation was
set up and two-thirds of developing countries now import more food
than they export.

But what has changed since Seattle is the fact that populations and
governments in the ‘developing world’ have woken up to the
sham of neo-liberalism, and are no longer the push-over the West would
like. The Doha Round talks (See SchNEWS 332) are still in deadlock
eight years on with countries more prepared to hold-out against US-led
proposals.

And why should they agree to plans designed to open up
‘immature’ developing economies to explotation by global
corporations, cutting tariffs and subsidies to ensure that the
resultant ‘level playing field’ tilts heavily in western
economies’ favour?

Doha was not even on the official agenda for the Geneva meeting, but
was being pushed as an economy boosting measure off the record.

Protesters descended for their own Geneva Convention, dressed-up to
mock the shirts attending the conference. A black bloc threw fire
bombs at police and damaged a dozen shopfront businesses, including a
bank at Place Bel-Air, a jewelry shop and a hotel on the Quai des
Bergues. A number of cars were burned, and three buses and numerous
other cars were damaged. Thirty-three were arrested. There were no
injuries to police or protesters, although a little 80-year-old lady
was pushed over in a melee.

* See  http://www.anti-omc2009.org/?lang=en

* The climate caravan is leaving Geneva after the WTO protests to
arrive in Copenhagen On December 9th for the COP15 Climate Conference
- see www.climatecaravan.org

* This was all just a warm up for next week’s Copenhagen biggie
- for a rundown of events see SchNEWS 700, www.klimaforum09.org ,
www.globalclimatecampaign.org , www.climate-justice-action.org ,
www.climatecamp.org.uk



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DOW AND OUT IN BHOPAL

"It took some time, but we managed this quickly, and we can say that
we are providing 100% clean water [in Bhopal]. There was nothing
hazardous for human lives there." - Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on the 25th anniversary of the world's worst
industrial disaster at Bhopal.

Nothing Tony Blair has ever said about the Iraq invasion could come
close to this level of outright bullshit, and no climate-change denier
or flat earth society proponent could speak so much in the face of
reality or scientific evidence.

On December 3rd 1984, the Union Carbide plant at Bhopal leaked 27
tonnes of highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas - used to manufacture the
pesticide Sevin – killing some 8-10,000 within three days,
leading to a current death toll of 23,000, and some 150,000 are left
with chronic conditions, such as neurological, organ and chromosomal
damage; tuberculosis, cancer and other diseases. One in 25 babies born
in the area have congenital defects. The company has never been
brought to justice for it.

As the site was never cleaned up, the toxins have seeped into the
water system, and now analyses commissioned by the Bhopal Medical
Appeal have shown that the soil has at least 16 contaminants at levels
greatly exceeding WHO levels, including Carbon Tetrachloride toxicity
at more than 2400 times the 'safe' level – which has actually
risen by 270% in the past year as the chemicals leech further into the
soil. The toxins in the ground water are known carcinogens and
neurotoxins, particularly harmful to children and the unborn.

It's been left to the independently run, internationally funded
Sambhavna Clinic – set up in 1996 – to treat the victims,
which sees 150 people every day for conditions such as liver disease,
anaemia and all manner of organ damage. The clinic constantly sees new
victims - those born with defects, 25 years later.

The other side to this whole sordid story is the efforts that Union
Carbide – and its now parent company, Dow Chemicals – as
well as the US Government and Chamber Of Commerce, have gone to avoid
cleaning up the site, offering due compensation or facing criminal
charges.

The morning after the disaster there was clearly one thing on Union
Carbide's mind – how they could get away with this scot-free. As
the relief effort began in the immediate aftermath, emergency medical
efforts were hampered by UC not disclosing what toxic chemicals had
been unleashed. In the months that followed a US Court Judge demanded
that UC put between $5-10 million into emergency medical funds -
eventually $5 million went to the Red Cross.

As a settlement pay-out for the victims, UC first offered $100
million – yet had the accident happened in the US, the liability
would have been closer to $10bn. In 1989 UC paid a $470 million
settlement – with a maximum of $1000 going to victims –
and at the same time reclaiming the $5 million they gave the Red
Cross, forcing them to close all their hospitals in Bhopal. By 1989 UC
had paid $50 million on lawyers and an unknown amount to PR company
Burson Marsteller to worm out of the fiasco. And all this was before
any money had been spent cleaning up the site, which they claimed was
the responsibility of the local government.

Straight away criminal proceedings began against UC, with charges
being brought against the CEO of UC, Warren Anderson, and several key
leaders of UC India and those running the plant. Anderson and others
were arrested, but he was bailed after four days (for the non-bailable
offence of culpable homicide) – under promise to return when
summonsed, but was flown out by an Indian State plane and hasn't
returned since. Anderson was summonsed again in 1987 in a case brought
by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation, with further ignored
summonses in the years that followed.

Finally in 2003 the Indian Govt attempted to extradite Anderson, but
Freedom Of Information requests by US Bhopal campaigners have shown
the efforts the US Govt have gone to prevent Anderson being
extradited, or Bhopal having any impact on US international corporate
activity. The US Chamber Of Commerce hired a 'who's who of
high-powered law firms' to protect UC and Anderson. Attempts to
extradite Anderson again resumed this year, meanwhile he remains a
'fugitive', despite his New York address being well known.

There has been a week of events in Bhopal to commemorate the
disaster, including continual vigils and processions. In London
yesterday a choir gathered at Trafalgar Square, and there were other
events and demos around the world.

The Bhopal Medical Appeal and Amnesty have been touring Europe in a
bus since October travelling through seven countries from Sweden down
to Italy, stopping off at Dow Chemicals plants, visiting campus's,
human rights centres, and speaking to MEPs. The bus is due back in
Britain soon, and will tour Britain next year visiting festivals, town
centres and anything it can fit in – see  http://bhopalbus.com

* See also SchNEWS 238, 580, 637

* For info about the UK-based International Campaign for Justice in
Bhopal see  http://bhopal.net , for more about the Medical Appeal see
 http://bhopal.org

* To read the BMA water report see  http://water.bhopal.org



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WHEN CHIPS WERE DOWN

A Welsh Climate Camp faction turned their attention to Port Talbot
this week and targeted a biomass power plant in Margam. The only one
of it’s kind in the UK (although more are planned for the local
area), the plant takes hourly deliveries of 20 tonnes of woodchip
during working hours to keep the fires burning.

Activists locked on using bicycle locks to close off the
plant’s entrance and stop the deliveries, while others climbed
the chimney and unfurled a banner reading ‘Clean Energy: Dirty
Joke’. The demo lasted three to four hours before a squad of
police officers removed the campaigners, took their details and
searched the group and their vehicles.

With Port Talbot air pollution levels already exceeding EC limits,
another biomass plant in Holyhead is planned which will be the largest
in the world. The two stations will require an area of managed forest
plantations half the size of Wales to feed them, land that could be
used to feed a third of Britain.

* See  http://climatecampcymru.org/?p=932


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UNI-LATERAL DECISION

Students at Sussex Uni took to direct action yesterday (3rd),
protesting against staff cuts. Following on from last week (See
SchNEWS 701), a large demo was held outside the building on the Falmer
campus where a management meeting was taking place to vote for the
cuts. But then students set off the fire alarm and a group stormed
into the building and tried to force their way into the meeting,
having a rowdy synchronised stomp and banging on the walls. Soon
around seven police cars arrived on the scene, and the crowd
dispersed, without arrests. As far as we know, the meeting went ahead
and presumably the cuts were waved through.

Said a student spokesperson, “students and staff are here to
show them that we won’t allow a decision without consultation.
The proposals have been made without any real consultation with staff
or students. They involve massive cuts to student support services,
and involve cuts to over 115 jobs and over 70 fixed terms
contracts.”


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INSIDE SCHNEWS

Mindaugus Lenartavicius, a 22 year old Lithuanian national was
sentenced this week to two years for his part in the G20 demos (see
SchNEWS 671). His crime? Trying to set fire to some window- blinds
inside the Royal Bank of Scotland. Even the prosecution had to admit
that his efforts resulted in nothing more than singed blinds and
“scorching” to the ceiling. He had been cleared at an
earlier hearing of arson “being reckless as to whether life was
endangered”. Although he wasn’t nicked there and then, and
despite being balaclava-clad at the time, cops were able to identify
him later by his distinctive ‘studded hood’. An address to
send letters of support to Mindaugus will be published when we find
out where he’s gone.

* Elijah Smith (one of the EDO Decommissioners - see SchNEWS 663) was
moved to Lewes prison yesterday. You can write to him: VP 7551, HMP
Lewes, 1 Brighton Rd, Lewes, BN7 1EA


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DUBAI NOW, PAY LATER

So the jewel in the capitalist crown has finally fallen off this week
as Dubai World, the emirates holding company responsible for conjuring
up much of the desert city asked as nicely as they could for a six
month debt holiday from their creditors.

Described as a dream location where ‘expansion has no
limit’, Dubai was built on cheap immigrant labour (with
obligatory absence of worker rights, squalid housing and a high rate
of worker injuries and deaths) - all financed with borrowed money from
the big global investment players. The creditor list includes plenty
of UK interest with all the credit crunch villains involved,
including RBS, Lloyds, HSBC and Standard Chartered PLC. In all British
banks have a tidy £30bn ‘invested’’ in Dubai.

In a state with rapidly dwindling oil reserves and few natural
resources, the idea was to stay afloat with income from property,
trade and tourism to hold face with super-wealthy oil rich neighbours
like Saudi Arabia and Oman. Well, you’ve got to keep up with the
Al-Jones’ haven’t you?

They wasted no time with buying up international property stocks -
Dubai World owns many famous locations in the UK (a corner of
Trafalgar Square, 10 Whitehall Place and the Metropole building to
name just a few) and in the rest of world. But with debt now
spiralling into the region of 80 billion dollars (although no one
knows the true figures) development projects in Dubai have ground to a
halt, with cranes standing idle as everybody scratches their heads
wondering what to do next.

The reality is that Dubai is not the only economy based on sand,
speculation and other people’s money. Countries that bought
wholesale into the consumerist dream such as Iceland, Ireland, Greece
and Ukraine are now facing sovereign debt that they have little chance
of repaying, and the UK isn’t far behind. Dubai has become the
financial crisis in a microcosm, demonstrating that even the most over
inflated bubbles can burst when an economy based on debt and denial
faces the fact that if the money isn’t really there, spending it
anyway eventually leaves you in a hole heap of trouble – yes,
even if you have wisely spent it on creating landscaped islands in the
shape of a map of the world.


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DE-TENSION CENTRE

On 28th November, activists and supporters arrived at Campfield
Immigration Detention Centre in Kidlington to continue the campaign to
close the prison and end immigration detention as the Centre reached
its shameful 16th anniversary.

Throughout its history detainees have campaigned tirelessly for
release with letters, rooftop protests, and hunger strikes - and their
efforts have been matched by activity on the outside. Every last
Saturday of the month activists meet to protest and demonstrate their
solidarity with those on the inside.

This time, No Borders, Barbed Wire Britain, Campaign To Close
Campsfield and the odd MP made speeches about the work they are doing
outside the prison and an impassioned speech was also made by a
migrant who saw his friends kidnapped by the authorities. The most
moving images of the day remain the hands waving at the windows from
inside the Centre, an indication that the demo meant something at
least to those imprisoned inside. All are urged to join the monthly
demos against the cruelty of racist policies and institutions like
Campsfield.

* See www.closecampsfield.org.uk and www.barbedwirebritain.org


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SCHNEWS IN BRIEF

* The Mainshill protest camp kept up it’s active reputation by
blockading the site for seven hours on Monday night to prevent tree
felling, and did it all again on Tuesday to halt further works. For
more see  http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk

* This Saturday (5th) is The Wave - a big day of action and march
against climate change, in the run-up to COP15 at Copenhagen. London:
organised by the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, meeting 12pm at
Grosvenor Square going to Parliament at 3pm, then onto LSE at 4.30pm.
 http://the-wave.org.uk Glasgow: organised by Stop Climate Chaos
Scotland, assemble at Bellahouston Park, 10.30am marching to
Kelvingrove Park. www.stopclimatechaos.org/thewavescotland

* NOTT A CHANCE - After being outnumbered by antifascists at recent
demos in Wales and Scotland, the Islamophobic English Defence League
are turning out this Saturday (5th) in Nottingham. The EDL are meeting
at 2pm at Wetherspoons, marching to Nottingham Castle. Also during the
afternoon is a returned soldiers’ march. The UAF and Stop The
War are marching, but again, don’t let their stewards control
the demonstration. Meet 10am at Market Square. See
www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire

* PARTY & PROTEST - for a full listings of events see
www.schnews.org.uk/pap


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RAISING THE BARCLAYS

‘Target Barclays’ actions took place across the country
last Saturday (28th), called for by Smash EDO (see SchNEWS 701). The
day of action drew attention to the bank’s involvement with EDO
MBM/ITT, the Brighton-based weapons parts manufacturer.

A host of autonomous groups staged their own demos at Barclays in
locations across the country. In Hastings, Tunbridge Wells and
Falmouth, campaigners leafletted and picketed their local branches
causing sleepy town police to come out to protect the
‘defenceless’ multinational.

Brighton activists demonstrated at their local branch, handing in a
letter to the manager, and inspiring some customers to promise to
close their accounts after reading their flyers. Wrexham joined in the
party, making use of Barclays new £1 million shop front by
stringing up banners.

SchNEWS’ top prize goes to Cambridge activists for scaling a
huge building opposite Barclay’s, currently conveniently covered
in scaffolding, and cutting seven foot high letters in the plastic
surround, telling people for miles around that Barclays invests
£7 billion in the arms trade.

The campaign against Barclays and EDO MBM /ITT continues with regular
noise demos in Brighton and more action planned for the future,
including the Remember Gaza mass demo in Brighton on January 18th. For
more see www.smashedo.org.uk

* A recent investigation of EDO’s export licences has found
that they have owned UK patents for equipment used by the Israeli
military since 1998, and have been actively seeking Israeli patents
since 2003.


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DALE FARM ALERT

Dale Farm, the largest Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller community of
its kind in Britain (See SchNEWS 694), home to over 100 families
(1,000+ people) is now under serious threat of eviction.

The site on Oak Lane in Crays Hill, Essex - which began in the 1970s
has, like all other sites, been under threat since the 1994 Criminal
Justice and Public Order Act which repealed the Caravan Sites Act
1968, obligating local authorities to provide space for travellers.
The population of Dale Farm has swelled as other travellers were
evicted from sites around the country.

Part of the site was bought around this time by the Sheridan clan of
travellers but planning permission to live on the land has been
repeatedly refused by Basildon Council. According to the Commission
for Racial Equality this is typical – 90% of planning
applications from traveller communities are routinely refused compared
with a 20% average failure rate. Stitched up by the council, the
residents of Dale Farm have recently also lost their final appeal to
be heard by the House Of Lords.

The council are now pressing ahead with a £5 million plan to
evict and bulldoze the site. On 10th December, Basildon Council leader
Tony Ball will formally lead his cabinet in voting to give a £2m
contract for the eviction of Dale Farm - and this contract will most
likely go to ruthless ‘gypsy eviction specialists’
Constant & Co (See SchNEWS 669). If that happens Dale Farm will
soon be given just 28 days notice before the bailiffs arrive, and
residents face having to prepare to resist the eviction imminently -
and will need urgent support.

* Rally to ‘Save Dale Farm’ - meeting outside The
Basildon Centre, St Martin’s Squ-are, Basildon SS14 1DL from 7pm
on 10th December, aptly also on Human Rights Day. Email
 dale.farm@btinternet.com to receive further updates.


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AND FINALLY

Nottingham city council is as cash strapped as most are – and
currently has a £30m hole in its finances as it struggles to
maintain its failing public services. Given the current political
climate, it’s perhaps beyond droll to note that the incumbent
council leader is call Kay Cutts.

But this hasn’t stopped them from spunking over £80,000
on an internal smut hunt, paying outside contractors to use their
‘intelligent software’ to trawl council computers looking
for ‘inappropriate’ material.

Well just porn actually, racist and other extremist material slips
through the net. The software must use some complicated set of
algorithms to identify things like a predominance of skin-coloured
pixels within images, characteristic grunting-shaped soundwaves in
videos or likely word combinations of porn-sounding file names, and
determines an estimated level of obscenity. How accurate this process
is unknown – presumably some perv relishes the job of testing
the results.

But apparently Notts is festering in filth – 2,700 images were
labelled as those “which may cause distress or psychological
harm to an unexpected viewer” and only 12% of the PCs have yet
been checked. Next up are individual councillors computers, who must
now be cold sweating in anticipation. Whether spending up to three
quarters of a million quid to check ‘em all and prove once and
for all what a bunch of wankers work for council goes down well with
the electorate – or merely gives them the hump, as their bin
collections get cut, remains to be seen.


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Disclaimer

SchNEWS suggests that the Advisory Service For Squatters set up an
office in Dubai. Rich pickings. Honest.

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