UK Newswire Archive
Men Confronting Patriarchy
02-08-2010 13:22
All genders welcome.5-7pm every Friday
Different venue each month
August: The Factory (www.freefactory.wordpress.com)
Forced Disappeared in Chile and Latin America
02-08-2010 12:57
Representatives of the International Foundation for the Forced Disappeared (IFFD) plan to visit London to participate in a series of Chilean and Latin American Solidarity events that include our running a half marathon at the “Run to the Beat” in Greenwich, on September 26, 2010www.missingfriends.org
Steady State Economy
02-08-2010 12:23
Perpetual economic growth is not possible.
CASSE call it Steady State, rather than No Growth:
http://steadystate.org/
Political spinning of WikiLeak release:Antiwar whistleblowing or war propaganda?
02-08-2010 11:54
Unlike a previous WikiLeaks exposing the murder of Iraqi civilians in a US airstrike, nobody has been apprehended, arrested or pressured by the Pentagon, the CIA or any US agency.
Free Public Transport For Bristol!
02-08-2010 11:22
Local transport campaign launchBristol Campaign For Free Public Transport will be holding its first meeting in South Bristol on Monday 23rd August at 7.00pm in Redcatch Community Centre, Redcatch Road, Knowle BS4 2EP. All welcome. Redcatch Road is just off the Wells Road; the best buses to get from the centre are 51 and 54 (alight at Broadwalk Shopping Centre).
See full story for website, contact details, and the campaign's aims and objectives.
Bristol Campaign For Free Public Transport will be holding its first meeting in South Bristol on Monday 23rd August at 7.00pm in Redcatch Community Centre, Redcatch Road, Knowle BS4 2EP. All welcome. Redcatch Road is just off the Wells Road; the best buses to get from the centre are 51 and 54 (alight at Broadwalk Shopping Centre).
A new website has been set up here:
http://bristolcffpt.wordpress.com/
- and the aim is to hold more meetings during the autumn/winter months and to organise lobbying and campaigning events in support of the CFFPT's aims.
The Campaign For Free Public Transport is a national campaign (small but growing!) whose aims include:
"...to secure an expanded, land and water based public transport system that is fully integrated, accessible, reliable, publicly owned and ultimately free for all at the point of use.
Objectives:
1. To defend the free bus pass for the over 60s.
2. To extend free public transport to children, young people, the unemployed and those in receipt of income support.
3. To secure public ownership of the public transport system, its expansion, full integration and rational planning.
4. To defend and extend the availability and reliability of public transport.
5. To conduct rigorous research on the funding and organisation of public transport.
6. To disseminate the Aims of the Campaign and build public support for them."
If you would like to get involved locally, please email: bristolcffpt@hotmail.co.uk
The national website can be found here:
http://www.freepublictransport.org.uk/
Continuing Conflicts that Create Refugees, July 2010
02-08-2010 07:37
Iraq civilian death toll almost doubles in JulyAlert Net 01/08/10
UNHCR concerned about deportations to Mogadishu as fighting continues
UNHCR 30/07/10
Thousands flee Congo clashes, security worsens
IRIN 30/07/10
Nine die in Kashmir protest clashes
BBC News 02/08/10]
Two actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and one improved in July 2010, according to the new issue of the International Crisis Group’s monthly bulletin CrisisWatch
Deteriorated Situations: Rwanda, Somalia
Download the full report: cw84.pdf
Somalia, militant Islamist group al-Shabaab demonstrated for the first time its capability to spread conflict and bloodshed more widely across the region by launching suicide bomb attacks on Kampala, Uganda that killed at least 85 people. The bombings came after explicit warnings by al-Shabaab that they would take revenge on Uganda and Burundi for their troop contribution to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which supports the transitional government against the Islamist group. Despite threats by al-Shabaab leader Sheikh Abu-Zubeyr of further strikes on Kampala and in Burundi, the two countries maintained their resolve to take on the insurgency and committed to send more troops to AMISOM. In Somalia itself scores of civilians were killed as renewed fighting broke out between al-Shabaab and government forces to the north of Mogadishu.
Rwanda, July saw growing political violence, shrinking of democratic space ahead of 9 August presidential election. Democratic Green Party VP and ex- RPF -turned-critic Andre Kagwa Rwisereka found dead 14 July; Rwisereka’s business partner arrested same day for murder; Green Party, rights groups calling for independent inquiry. Editor of independent newspaper Umurabyo and 2 journalists arrested 13 July for article likening President Kagame to Hitler. Tanzanian ICTR defence lawyer Mwaikusa killed 13 July in Dar-Es-Salaam. Electoral campaign for 9 Aug presidential polls started 20 July; only 4 parties admitted: ruling RPF, PL, SDP and PPC. FDU and Democratic Green Party candidates remained barred. Close to 2,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees forcefully repatriated out of Uganda 14 July with Rwandan police participation
Preparing for World War III, Targeting Iran +
02-08-2010 02:59
"When the spoofs first appeared on the web, not a few readers took the opening paragraphs seriously, because there was such a ring of psychological truth to them.Anyone who ignores the psychological factor in politics must have been in hibernation during the eight years of the Bush-Cheney pathology. When sane military professionals were testifying to the perils of new wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the neocon faction followed its insane instincts and the bombs began to fall. Dr. Justin A. Frank, an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, authored a brilliant study entitled Bush on the Couch.(25) Relying solely on published speeches, statements, and interviews, Frank diagnosed the president as seriously mentally ill, actually a sociopath. Were Dr. Frank to examine statements on the public record by Netanyahu, Barak, Peres, Lieberman, Tzipi Livni among others, he might come to a similar conclusion. When, at a recent public speaking event in Germany, I asked the IPPNW member aboard the Mavi Marmora, how he, as a practicing psychiatrist, would evaluate the mental state of the Israeli leadership, he quipped that he was merely a psychotherapist, and did not deal with cases of grave psychosis."
Solidarity with Millitary Resisters - Glenton Released, Manning Imprisoned!
01-08-2010 22:31
They're in There For Us, We're on the Loose for Them!Edinburgh picket in solidarity with Ian Tomlinson's family
01-08-2010 20:22
A small picket took place outside the Crown Office in Edinburgh in solidarity with the family of Ian Tomlinson, killed by the police last year.
Autonomous Community Oaxaca Under Paramilitary Control
01-08-2010 20:09
Following Police Raid of San Juan CopalaHigh Court in Kenya Rules Hundreds of Death Sentences Unconstitutional
01-08-2010 20:08
Kenya further strengthens the 88% of the world's countries not involvedin premeditated judicial murder
Help Sakine's brave lawyer and human rights activist...
01-08-2010 20:01
He needs our help.All of us who have closely followed the case of Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani are deeply concerned about the Iranian Islamic Regime's attack on Mr. Mostafaei's family. Last week Mostafaei was issued a summons requiring him to present himself to Evin prison; he did so on 24 July. He was interrogated and released but received a further summons by telephone. Later that day, his wife and brother-in-law were arrested and remain in prison in order to exert pressure on Mostafaei to turn himself in. Scores of human rights defenders have been harassed or arrested in Iran with some being sentenced to death. Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani’s son, Sajjad, who has appealed on her behalf has also faced interrogation and harassment.
J B Spray Squat, court date, Mon. 2nd Aug.resist!
01-08-2010 19:24
J B Spray Squat, court date, Mon. 2nd Aug.resist!
The J B Spray squat, in Radford, Nottingham, is facing another court hearing tomorrow in front of Nottingham Magistrates, and so is calling for support, in terms of people joining the squats efforts to resist any attempts at eviction by the bailiffs or the state...PLEASE COME AND JOIN THE RESISTANCE!CANT GO, WONT GO!
this building is worth 6 million to the idiot landlord, its home to us!
The squat has been home to and is still home for, shit loads of people, and has been exceptional at being a free, autonomous zone, where people and ideas have blended to showcase the best of squatting practice and attitude, that, quite frankly, has been lacking in certain circles around these parts. Basically, this is a brilliant squat - even if i say so myself - so get down here and help us resist any attempts to evict us after the magistrates court hearing in nottingham tomorrow, monday august the 2nd 2010
resist
squat the world
the act of squatting is the very manner in which we can expropriate the means of housing ourselves, therefore not relying on being part of the 'housing ladder' or the 'rent hole' - where your money goes to a landlord, therefore down the drain, or to a bank, who could withdraw the equity if your 'fail' to pay...squatting is the natural answer to the housing problem on this island, where hundreds and thousands of people remain without a home, yet hundreds of thousands of buildings remain empty...did you vote for this, did you pay for this, do you want this? no?...then resist!
(these are my ideas and not not necessarily those of the rest of the people who live at or use the squat at J B Spray, cheers)
Resist
Squat the World!
Wildcat #2 out now
01-08-2010 16:22
Dr. Steve Best on "The Left, Capitalism, and Animal Rights"
01-08-2010 15:44
This is an excerpt of Jon Hoch interviewing Dr. Steven Best on April 29, 2010. To hear the entire interview, please see:
http://negotiationisover.com/2010/05/11/an-interview-with-dr-steven-best-the-left-capitalism-and-animal-rights/
Taunton Benefit Gigs: Renata Zelazna / Womens Refuge / Antifascist
01-08-2010 15:25
16th September - Taunton Womens Refuge
6th October - Moscow Antifa
21st October - Benefit TBA
Nottingham Pride 2010
01-08-2010 14:24
Nottingham Pride is now in its eighth year. Apparently going from success to success, this year's event was for the first time held at the Forest Recreation Ground, a step-up from the Arboretum where it has been held previously. Following on from last year, the event was preceded by a well-attended march. Encouragingly this year, there was an explicitly political fringe event, although politics also intruded on the festivities with the appearance of a small group of Islamic fundamentalists.
This year's march followed the same route as last year's albeit in the opposite direction. Marchers formed up in the Arboretum, near the bandstand, from 10.30am and set-off, with a punctuality unfamiliar to seasoned activists, shortly before 11am. The weather had not looked promising while people were arriving at the Arboretum and there had been a brief shower at about 10.45, but this didn't last and the rain held off for most of the day.
The march was led by a marching band (returning from last year) playing unique covers of pop classics. Although the Arboretum had looked fairly empty while people were gettting ready, the numbers seemed to swell once it got started with getting on for 1,000 people taking part by my estimate. Snaking its way down North Sherwood Street, left onto Shakespeare Street and then onto Mansfield Road and up to the Forest Rec, the protest was a colourful event with banners from assorted local organisations.
Homophobic stickers had appeared in the city in the run-up to this year's Pride and following appearances at the recent Derby Pride, there was an expectation that Islamic fundamentalists would show their face. With an additional rumour that the EDl might also show up the police were out in force, with the march led by police horses and with the CCTV van and dirt bikes also available.
The fundamentalists had ensconced themselves at the entrance to the Forest Rec, opposite the Forest Lodge, under the watchful eye of Inspector Andy Townsend and a police evidence gathering team. To my mind the small group (there were only about 12 of them) recalled the characters in Chris Morris' Four Lions (particularly Barry), but were apparently unaware of their own descent into cliche. As marchers approached the Islamists began a chant of "Shame on you," which was greeted by a mass of people giving them the finger, jeering and even waving. Although they had apparently been in place from about 10am, the group headed off within minutes of the march coming past them, presumably returning to whichever other city they'd travelled from, my suspicions being that they were the same group who showed up in Derby and not local. If this is the worst that the Islamic fundamentalist movement in the East Midlands can muster I'm not sure we have much to worry about.
The main Pride event was in the middle of the Forest Recreation Ground, surrounded by an unwelcoming fence. There were two stages, with stalls running diagonally across the site between them. For the first time this year there was a "speaker's corner" area for political discussions, although this had pointedly been placed in a distant corner to ensure nobody stumbled across it by accident. Far be it that politics get in the way of people's enjoyment of this year's headliners, the Cheeky Girls.
As in previous years the stalls were dominated by organisations looking to up their credentials as equal opportunities employers, among them Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council Registrars, Nottinghamshire Police, British Transport Police, Nottingham City Homes and even Her Majesty's revenue and Customs. There were also a splattering of unions (RCN, Unison, Unite) and a few local LGBT organisations. The Co-Operative were particularly prominent for some reason. They had a large banner on the march and a huge stall promoting membership of the Co-Op, the plight of honey bees and their motoring group. Unlike previous years there was no general activist presence, apparently because the cost of stalls had been increased.
Alongside the official events, a fringe meeting had been organised in the nearby Djanogly Leisure Centre in an attempt to up the political content of Pride, all too often seen as little more than a big party. The meeting was addressed by Claire, a trans activist and vice-chair of the NUT LGBT advisory group; Skye Chirape, a Zimbabwean lesbian activist, former asylum seeker and founding member of NOIZY Image; and Peter Tatchell, well-known human rights activist and co-founder of Outrage! Ali Hili of Iragi LGBT has also hoped to speak, but was unfortunately too ill to do so.
Clare began the meeting by describing the situation of trans people across the world. As might be expected, in many places the situation is not good and it is often the police and authorities who are responsible for much of the abuse. Even in the UK she suggested that gender non-conformity was often treated as a mental condition and that this needed to be challenged.
A letter was then read from Ali Hili apologising for his non-attendance. In it he noted that while Iraq had been a relatively safe place for LGBTI people under Saddam Hussein, more than 750 LGBTI people had been murdered or gone missing since the invasion, many of them as part of an orchestrated campaign by Shia leaders. The role of foreign intervention in the spreading of homophobia was a theme which continued in Skye Chirape's talk. She noted the influence of colonialism, pointing to the existence of same sex unions in traditional societies. Colonialism had imposed a number of homophobic laws which remained in place. Skye described the the invisibility of LGBTI people in Zimbabwean society. This fits into a perception that people cannot be gay and black. She noted that in the Stonewall riots a sizeable proportion of the rioters had been from an ethnic minority, but that now Pride had become predominantly white.
At this point there was an opportunity for some questions. This led to a discussion about the police's engagement with Pride and whether it should be taken seriously. Skye noted her own very negative experiences with the immigration services who she described as racist and homophobic. Richard McCance, the chair and organiser of the meeting, also took this opportunity to draw attention to the city council's decision to cut the funding for the Outburst youth group which supports LGBTI young people.
Peter Tatchell was in someways the big draw at the event. Described by Richard McCance as the "scourge of the tabloids," Tatchell has been a longstanding human rights activist famous for his direct action protests. He began by expressing his support for the campaign against cuts by a Labour council. He talked about the the fact that no international convention explicitly protects the rights of LGBTI people. Around 80 countries continued to ban homosexuality, including 46 of the 54 Commonwealth states. Despite, or perhaps, because of this the Commonwealth refuses to speak out against the abuses perpetrated against LGBTI individuals by its members, something Tatchell has tried to change. He was clear that these homophobic laws, were not authentic expressions of traditional cultures as they had been imposed by colonial powers and never repealed.
Despite the bleak situation Tatchell was clear that there is hope and pointed to the heterosexuals who had spoken out against homophobia, often at great risk to themselves. This he suggested had helped ensure the release of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, imprisoned for 14 years in Malawi after celebrating their engagement. Despite the problems, Tatchell finished by suggesting that the tide of history was flowing in our direction and that we just needed to give it a bit of a push.
At this point there was a further opportunity for contributions from the floor. This presented an opportunity for the party lines to be trotted out by the local lefties. Hence we had a critique of "clerical fascism" from an AWL member and a call for a "new workers' party" from a Socialist Party comrade. (The SWP - who had been out and about earlier in the day for the march - were notable by their absence.) There was also a contribution from a woman at the back who revealed herself to be a member of the police and trotted out their official line as a counterpoint. There was also a discussion about how best to deal with fundamentalists of whatever stripe and a suggestion from Tatchell that people ensure they engage with local muslim communities.
This was a positive meeting which served to inject some much needed politics back into Pride. Grappling not only with the politics of homophobia, but also with the issues around immigration and asylum it is to be hoped that this will become a feature of future Prides.
Nottingham Pride - Political Speakers
01-08-2010 12:25
To coincide with Nottingham's Pride event, which ended on the Forest Rec, local LGBT activists organised a public meeting to discuss the political freedom and human rights of the LGBT community across the world. Peter Tatchell, Skye Chirape (lesbian activist and artist from Zimbabwe) and Claire Jenkins (trans-activist) spoke about LGBT struggles for recognition and freedom in different parts of the world, the experiences of LGBT asylum seekers in Britain and cuts to funding for LGBT people in Nottingham. Ali Hili (Iraqi gay activist) was unable to attend through ill health, but a message from him was read out.
Recordings of the speeches are included below (apologies for the poor quality - there was a problem with the microphone).
The meeting was chaired by Richard McCance, a veteran Nottingham LGBT activist who expressed dismay at council cuts of funding to Outburst, an outreach group for isolated LGBT youths across Nottinghamshire. He referred to a recent case in Derby where a teenage gay boy, spurned by his boyfriend, threatened to jump from a tall building. Emergency services had started coaxing him down when a crowd of people who'd gathered goaded him to jump to his death. It was people like this lad who were so desperately in need of services like Outburst.
In the discussion that followed a member of the audience expressed concern about a small handful of Islamists who had turned up to protest Pride. Peter Tatchell was quick to point out the importance of dialogue between the LGBT community and local Muslims, recounting very positive experiences he'd had in the past.
All of the speakers were clear in pointing out that much of the homophobia that exists in the post-colonial world has its roots in imported Victorian colonial values and an extremist missionary Christianity. This makes claims by macho African leaders that homosexuality is 'un-African' false. The struggle for LGBT rights in Africa was described as the continuation of African liberation.
The meeting was well attended - extra mats had to be brought into the room so that people could sit on the floor because all the seats were filled - and there were calls for it to be made an annual event. Let's hope it happens again next year.
and then they came for the Judges . . . . . .
01-08-2010 12:01
Judge from EDO Decommissioners case now under investigationJ B Spray Squat, Court Hearing Mon. Aug 2nd, CALL FOR RESISTANCE TO EVICTION!
01-08-2010 11:42
CANT GO, WONT GO!