UK Newswire Archive
Occasional Cinema September Sesions
27-08-2010 16:22
OC is back!This September Occasional Cinema returns to St Werburghs with 4 free outdoor film nights.
In solidarity with Silvia, Billy and Costa
27-08-2010 15:42
Has UK Coal cash enough to restore canal?
27-08-2010 13:24
Our latest press release "Will UK Coal be able to afford to restore the Ashby Canal" (PR 75) and our revised Briefing Note on UK Coal plc's financial position (C1 UK Coal's Financial Situation and the Minorca Application, 2nd edition) also published today, points out that when a Company's Auditors qualify the Company's Accounts then this is a company in some financial trouble. UK Coal plc is in such trouble. As the press release makes clear this could have dire consequences for local people if despite these financial facts UK Coal plc gain planning permission to work the Minorca site. Our press release draws attention to the financial facts, describes some of the possible consequences and suggests a line of action that both those who propose and oppose the planning application can take in order to secure the benefits on offer if UK Coal gain planning permission.
MOPG PR 75 27/8/10
WILL UK COAL plc BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE COST OF RESTORING THE ASHBY CANAL?
When the Auditors of a company state
“These disclosures indicate the existence of material uncertainties which may cast significant doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.” (1)
persons dealing with that company whether they are shareholders, employees or expecting that company to provide some kind of benefit, should take notice. The company in question is UK Coal plc, who published their Interim Statement for first six months of 2010 on 25/8/10. They make dismal reading:
Losses before tax £93.2m
Accumulated losses £257m
Net Assets £58.3m (2)
These are the financial figures causing their independent Auditors, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, to make the above comment when qualifying UK Coal’s accounts.
The Minorca Opencast Protest Group have been following the financial fortunes of this Company for some time and we have produced figures that have been quoted by the influential Economist Intelligence Unit, that most of these losses have been accumulated by the mining division, and these losses now total nearly £289m. These figures have just been updated in our Briefing Note C1 “UK Coal’s Financial Situation” 2nd edition, August 2010, which is published today.
The Company announced on 27th July that it was to restructure its activities into a property division and a mining division with the intention of these being separate profit centres. If the Minorca site comes under the mining division and this division is carrying £289m of debt, the Division’s first priority will be to repay this level of debt. If this cannot be done then there is a real risk of bankruptcy – indeed it could be argued that with net losses over assets of nearly £200m now, the Company as a whole is already technically bankrupt.
If that event occurred and there were no Restoration Bonds in place to finance the restoration of the site and no Bankers Guarantees for the full commercial cost of fulfilling the obligation to restore part of the Ashby Canal and to provide Community Funds, then there is the real risk that we could be left with no coal, a big hole and a big ditch and an owner of the site who has no money. A former Company Director, Terry Lidster has already commented about UK Coal plc’s financial state:
“If Mr. Bricknell (founder of Measham and Ashby Canal Enthusiasts) believes that UK Coal will honour any of these "pledges" he needs a reality check. The mining part of UK Coal is essentially "bust". This part of the company will either be sold or "re-structured" in the near future and the "new" company / owners will have no obligation to these "pledges".” (3)
This comment was made before the first half figures for UK Coal plc were published. The sentiment behind the statement is right, but given that this is a planning application which is being considered, the outcome would be rather different. In this case it could be the company which owes the site with the obligation to restore both the site and the canal which goes “bust”, leaving the County Council with the prospect of trying to enforce unenforceable obligations on a company with no assets.
Although we in MOPG are opposing this application, we want to avoid any possibility of being left in this situation if UK Coal plc gains planning permission. Given the degree of uncertainty hanging over UK Coal’s financial future we are asking everyone, proposers and opposers of the application alike, to write to Leicestershire County Council to say that as a condition of gaining planning permission, UK Coal plc must provide a Restoration Bond and give these Bankers Guarantees.
Steve Leary for MOPG said:
“MOPG are only drawing attention to what has already been stated by UK Coal’s Auditors, that doubts exist over the future viability of this company. As we have explained, this puts at risk the ability of this Company to honour its obligations.
Whatever the differences are between local people over the merits for or against the Minorca Surface Mine Application, we should all make every effort to avoid the worst of all possible outcomes, of having no coal left to be sold, an opencast site left in a derelict state and a canal where the promised restoration is far from complete.
We are therefore inviting all parties, M.A.C.E. included, to join with us to ensure that local communities get the benefits offered as a consequence of UK Coal plc gaining planning permission to work the Minorca site. This means writing to Leicestershire County Council and asking them to make the following a condition attached to the granting of planning permission:
- That a Restoration Bond be arranged to cover the cost of restoring the Minorca site.
- That UK Coal plc should provide a Bankers Guarantee to cover the full cost of restoring the Ashby Canal to a predetermined point.
- That UK Coal plc should provide a Bankers Guarantee to cover the full cost of providing the £150,000 Community Fund.
We look forwards to hearing that M.A.C.E. has understood how serious UK Coal’s financial situation is and has written to Leicestershire County Council a letter which does ask for a Restoration Bond and the two Bankers Guarantees.”
References
1) The Financial Results for the six months ended 26 June 2010 also from UK Coal’s own web site p 16 @
http://www.ukcoal.com/regulatory-news
2) See Briefing Note C1 UK Coal’s Financial Situation and the Minorca Application, p3, 2nd edition, Minorca Opencast Protest Group, August 2010
@
http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/mopg-briefing-notes-series.html
3) See Terry Lidster’s comment on “500 are quick off mark to sign opencast petition” Burton Mail, 24/8/10 @
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/500-are-quick-off-mark-to-sign-opencast-petition.htm
END
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS PRESS RELEASE CONTACT:
STEVE LEARY, SPOKESPERSON, MOPG
tel 05601 767981,
email steve46leary@googlemail.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MOPG PLEASE GO TO:
http://www.mopg.co.uk or
http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/minorca-protest.html
Will UK Coal be able to afford to restore the Ashby Canal?
27-08-2010 12:29
Our latest press release "Will UK Coal be able to afford to restore the Ashby Canal" (PR 75) and our revised Briefing Note on UK Coal plc's financial position (C1 UK Coal's Financial Situation and the Minorca Application, 2nd edition) also published today, points out that when a Company's Auditors qualify the Company's Accounts then this is a company in some financial trouble. UK Coal plc is in such trouble. As the press release makes clear this could have dire consequences for local people if despite these financial facts UK Coal plc gain planning permission to work the Minorca site. Our press release draws attention to the financial facts, describes some of the possible consequences and suggests a line of action that both those who propose and oppose the planning application can take in order to secure the benefits on offer if UK Coal gain planning permission.DIY Poets submissions wanted for the next issue
27-08-2010 12:24
For any poets out there, the deadline for submissions of poems for issue of DIY Poets is September 1st.
Poems should be short enough to fit into a single page of A6. Send all submissions to diypoets@yahoo.co.uk
Zionist MP Complains to Attorney General about EDO Judge
27-08-2010 12:19
"What is to stop any group of pro-Palestinian or anti-Zionist protesters from attacking any business they deem to be supportive of the state of Israel?"
Well hopefully nothing...
Police ‘feared campaigners would close down airport’
27-08-2010 11:38
Lothian & Borders police attempt to salvage reputation after over-reacting to Camp for Climate Action protest.Grow Heathrow! resisting the eviction...
27-08-2010 11:22
Grow Heathrow, after almost half a year after launching a succesful grassroots campaign resisting the expansion of Heathrow airport while demonstrating sustainable living on derelict land, is under eviction threat. Read on to hear about the exciting campaign and how you can help keep the projects going...
On the first day of March this year a group of 30 people gathered outside a neglected plot of land on the site of the proposed 3rd runway in the Heathrow village of Sipson.
For years residents and activists had campaigned together to stop the expansion of Heathrow airport, and now they had come together to build grassroots solutions to the threat of climate change and peak oil, led by the people directly impacted on the ground.
A hole in the fence allowed the first of the group onto the land and as they put up a squatter’s rights notice on the gates, the rest followed into the site of Sipson’s new community garden; ‘Grow Heathrow’ was born.
Six months later and the garden is unrecognizable from the site that caused a spectrum of social problems for the community before it was reclaimed. In the early days of spring, teams of people cleared, carried and worked together to remove 30 tonnes of rubbish, while two sixty ft greenhouses were reglazed and permaculturists sowed seeds to return the land to a thriving market garden.
A host of events have been held in the garden including a banquet attended by 80 people using fresh vegetables grown on the land. And in May a flying critical mass picket was launched from the raised beds, where 20 cyclists stormed terminal 5 in solidarity with workers on strike from BA. Shared meals with residents and activists are common-place using courgettes, spinach, tomatoes, butternut squash, herbs, all pulled from Sipson soil.
Now in August and as discussions for winter structures begin, a new notice has been hung next to the section 46 on the front gates; a court summons has been served to the project.
At first rumours flew round the village and a troop of concerned locals fled to garden hearing that the landlord and heavies had come to claim the land. They found instead Transition Heathrow gardeners pouring over court papers, plotting and planning to protect the space they had put so much love and time into.
Negotiations have started to make the garden a long-term community-owned space, as statements of support come flying in to the Sipson greenhouses.
Resident Linda McCutcheon said: “It's been brilliant to see the site on Vineries Close come back to life after all the social issues from before. I've had a lot of fun with the group at the garden- turning it into a safe, positive and thriving place for Sipson- you should see the yellow courgettes! Transition Heathrow has a lot of support in this area and I'll be with them over the next couple of weeks to ensure this exciting project has a future”.
Community gardener Joe Rake said; “Grow Heathrow is part of a budding land movement in the UK connecting struggles to take back control of our food production. In building resilient communities to environmental and economic crises we want to defend real alternatives to the systems of false democracy and corporate greed.”
‘Grow Heathrow’ is calling for support. To help you can; come to Uxbridge County court at 10.40am on the 2nd of September, keep up to date for the outcome of the court case, sign the petition on the website and send statements of support to info@transitionheathrow.com.
For more information visit www.transitionheathrow.com
Images - http://www.flickr.com/photos/47991844@N06/
Violent Illegal Eviction Of 54 Freemantle Rd.
27-08-2010 11:22
Today police illegally evicted a squat on 54 Freemantle Rd.
Pigeon writes: On Thursday 26th August police illegally evicted a squat on 54 Freemantle Rd. No court papers had been served or warning given, yet police smashed in the front door and used dog teams to intimidate the residents and their friends whilst a police helicopter hovered overhead. Residents were not permitted to collect their belongings, which are apparently being held at Bridewell Station, presumably a further intimidation and information gathering strategy.Under English & Welsh law squatting is a civil matter to be resolved in the civil courts between the squatters and the owners and the police should not involve themselves unless a bailiff authorised by the court has been obstructed.
Full Story | Illegal Eviction in Cotham | Illegal Eviction in Cotham: What Happened
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City council trade unions support staff gag
27-08-2010 11:22
The sell-outs sell-out againOn Thursday 2 September the city council's Human Resources Committee will meet to agree that an internet gagging clause be added to their staff Code of Conduct. This gagging clause is supported by the council's recognised trade unions, notably the T&G, Unison and the GMB.
The clauses in question are these:
11.3.2 Social networking websites
...
The Council respects an employee's private life. However, it must also ensure that confidentiality and it's reputation are protected. Employees using social networking websites in their private life;
must refrain from identifying themselves as working for the Council, or disclose the name of Bristol City Council on it, or allow it to be identified by details, which has or may have the effect of bringing the Council into disrepute.
 must not identify other Council employees or service users without their consent
 must not make any defamatory remarks about the Council, it's service users, employees or managers or conduct themselves in a way that is detrimental to the Council
 disclose personal data or information about the Council,or it's service users, employees or managers that could breach the Data Protection Act 1998.(e.g photographs, images)
11.3.3 Personal Websites and Blogs
Employees who wish to set up personal webforums, weblogs or 'blogs' must do so outside of work, not use city council equipment and adhere to the points detailed in 11.3.2 above. Any breach of 11.3.2 or 11.3.3 whether nor not committed within work time and/or premises, could lead to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
This means:
staff can be SACKED for mentioning BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL on the internet.
staff can be SACKED for stating they work for BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL on the internet.
staff can be SACKED for discussing "DETAILS" relating to BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL on the internet.
staff can be SACKED for NAMING employees of BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL on the internet.
staff can be SACKED for any remarks perceived as NEGATIVE about BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL on the internet.
This will make it impossible for city council staff to engage in legitimate trade union and political activity on the internet.
AND LOCAL TRADE UNIONS HAVE AGREED TO THIS!!!
How very convenient as we potentially enter an unprecedented period of social and political unrest.
But don't expect the old unions to help!
New Carfree Group for Bristol
27-08-2010 11:22
A new group has been set up for people who live without cars in Bristol. It will meet at the Cornumbia pub on the third Wednesday of each month, starting September 15th, from 7.30pm.If, like several of us, you have made the decision to live without a car, you have probably experienced the same mixture of amusement and frustration at organisations who assume that everyone drives, or people who simply don’t understand how it’s possible to live happily without owning a car. Have you ever felt it would be good to mix with people who do understand?
That’s one reason why a few of us – members of Carfree UK, living in Bristol – have decided to set up Carfree Bristol. Our first aim is strictly social – to bring carfree people together. What if your partner has a car but you don’t? What if you are driving one at the moment but are aiming to give it up? Whatever your circumstances, we aren’t proposing any specific membership criteria. If you support the aims of the group, you are welcome.
Our longer-term aims are a bit more challenging: to promote carfree living, to persuade organisations to support our way of life instead of putting obstacles in the way, and to promote carfree neighbourhoods of the kinds which have been successful in many cities around Europe (see article below). Hope to see many of you there.
Talk on HST @ Kebele
27-08-2010 11:22
Content of talk on activism against High Speed TrainHigh speed train campaign
Basque activist speaks about the campaign to stop the High Speed Train and what that means: Destruction, energy waste, money waste, CO2 emisions, Impact on samall agriculture and economies etc.
Wednesday 01/09/10, at 7 pm for food and talk.
Kebele, 14 robertson rd. (www.kebelecoop.org)
Campaign against the High Speed Train (HST) in the basque Country
the campaign against the High Speed Train in the basque Country started almost 20 years ago. This is a project very difficult to materialise here due to the orography: loads of mountains, becuase the railway requires same level and to be straight.
The only way is buiding loads of viaducts/bridges, leveling up valleys and digging loads of tunnels. This makes the project very expensive too: nearly 24 million euros x km of railway!!!
And a very big bussiness specially for the construction companies which , since the crises, have this as the main source of profit. Like everywhere else we witnness here a collution between those companies and the parties in power. The latest crises in S'pain, following the collapse of the Greek economy, meant the IMF's intervention and as a consequence the halt of most of the infrastructure construction to save 1,200 M €. In the Basque Country however, politicians rushed to say that the HST would be finish. Works here persist. The HST will mean a cost of 4790 € per Basque citizaen. And together with this, they announced the rise of their costs, 260 M € more (!!!) in the Gipuzkoa part (San Sebastian). Because of this, because of the crisis (system) affecting so many and so badly, the level of this irresponsible waste is been understood by more people.
Obviously this has turned into a 'matter of state', like many other similar projects (Lemoiz nuclear power, Itoitz dam, Leizaran motorway) because the movement againt the HST (TAV in spanish/ AHT in Basque) has gained huge support. This support is articulated among others (libertarians, greens, etc) by the Basque left which includes the separatist left. Therefore, the project has got mixed up with the Basque conflict.
So the works keep up while the opposition to, though we already feel the effect of their advance, and obviously, therir brainwashing and repression. The propaganda from media and the state aparatus is huge, with massive summed spent on this. The repression huge too. The last years has seen a new kind of repression in the Basque Country where belonging to a party or group or media accused of having suddern ideas was enough to be accused of terrorsim, being tried at the National Hearing Court of madrid which deals with terrorism cases, under anti-terrorist law and therefore being held incommunicado during detention and afterwards, up to five years in prison without trial under 'preventive imprisonment'. Same policy has been transferred to one of the most popular campaigns and continuation of a long tradition of environmental resistance in the Basque Country. After Basque police charged brutally against marchers in Urbina, a few demonstrators were arrested. The regional Home Department (under PNV's control at the time) then attempted to send these to Madrid to the High Court as they were terrorists!! Even the High Court - known as we said for its willingness to try any Basques without proved crimes and known for allowing torture against many- refused this. However many other activists have been called to be tried in Madrid acused of terrorism. This accusation is based on the basis that ETA denounced the HST, included it among its aims and killed on 2nd December 2008 constructor Iñaki Uria. Therefore, the Spanish government, teh basque regional one and the police and courts deal with peaceful activists as they also were ETA - as we say, this is the way 'new democracy 'is applied in the Basque Country. As a result an activist who held a banner was accused of such and taken to Madrid, another one who climbed a tree with another banner too, two activists who hunged in atree with another one too and two demonstrators who graffittied a tram too, or even the mayor of a village where a consultation about the HST took placed (he did not even organized it!)... In the same way apossers are punihed with huge fines - the aim: to try to put them away, to keep people away from the movement, etc
However, apart from all this, we have many reasons to oposse this big project being the environmental destruction one of the main ones. As we said, this project will require a whole new railway. This is a saturated land due to high industralization and a huge road system (S'pain has the longest motorway network in Europe!!). But as we also said, these projects are the solution for concret and construction firms. As well as the High Speed Train technocrats and business men plan MegaPorts like the one in Pasaia (Jaizkibel), power stations, power lines and ring roads which double the existing motorways. The latest one was inaugurated this week meaning more road knots, more viaducts and mainly more land slice. Meanwhile others like the S√∫per Sur or the Eibar-Gasteiz are still under construction.
The HST will mean more of that, many tunnels which will mean extraction of land and valleys filled with it as it has already happening. Also many viaducts - incredibles amount of concret: estimate of 4 million Tones. For these purpose there is also a huge plan of quarries which is going to hole Basque mountains: 115 new quarries just in the West Basque region (plan between 2004-2014)!!! In a surface of 2,793.1 sq miles!!
In fact, it's already quite holed!
The other matter is to do with the concept itself: the project does not belong to a transport plan itself. There is not an analisys of how to improve public transport - aclaration: HST is built with public transport but is/will be an elitist transport. therefore, before tackling the public transport lacks we have a huge amount of money invest in something else which... is it a prority? The HST so far will link 4 major cities of a region with many towns in between. Many people will have to use still the existing net, moving to one of the main cities in order to go to another one (like now...) because that train... goes so fast that won't even stop in his/her town. Is that any good? The other thing is that while local politicians were so adamant in a HST the rest of the network is still not clear it will happen.
The resistance against the project is huge with loads of protest but also non violent direct action and quite a lot of sabotage. Camps like the one starting next week wich will be the 15th, occupaion of emptied houses, woods, or even nearby quarries. Another sector whom is very opossed is the agriculture one, having to say that agriculture in this affected side of the Basque Country is a low schale one, based in family production and marketed almost directly through local markets, littly mechanised and diversified, mainly due to the orography and also to other culture and history factors. But mainly a quiet weak social sector. The HST is another attack against their low economy as land will be seized from them, and they depend of it to survive. The HST will also cut accesses, fields, making more difficult the work of the fields.
In fact: HST will divide many locations and mainly it will empower the already big cities. It has been demonstrated that a model focused in big nucleus is not sustainable. Not healthy either. Small communities, spread in geography, with agriculture and services provided within the same area is the kind of model that we should be promoting. The model we have (well: reducing quite a lot polluting/unhealthy industry, saturated areas, private transport dependency, etc) now and not the one HST and the one their new Eurocity (San Sebastian-Bayonne)(1) proposes.
A HST in the basque Country also rises issues related to the energy it requires. These trains consume like planes. The energy comes from power stations. In the last years several Combined Cicle Power Plants have been built in the Basque Country and there are plans for more of them. This is new business. As an anti-HST activist pointed out, they are the HST Garages (among other things). In a country without fuel resources and little renewable energy (the Navarre area has got quite a lot proportionally) to promote a project like the HST means more energy dependency, more natural disasters elsewhere and therefore more ecological debt. Much of the gas used in these plats comes from Trinidad and from Nigeria, a country which is an environmental and social hell itself due to oil and gas extraction. We must add to this the contribution to climate change that this will mean and also our carbon debt.
This project belongs then to a bigger picture of big infrastructures, energy production and public spend. Together with the building of many more power plants which have caused big opossition (so were the campaigns in Zornoza and Castejon, the lemoiz one before, milestone of Basque ecologism) now we have the follow ups: big power-ways, the lines taking al those watts somewhere else, and with that aim there is more land seizure and more environmental damage.
That opossition has been articulated. Among their activities they have organised consultations in all the agffected villages being the result totally against this project. So were the results in the consultations against the power plant of Zornotza. So were those ones at the many consultations celebrated in villages and towns affected by the HST: Anoeta, Aramaio, ... In that sense, we also have to report the lack of democracy as many of this consultations have been even banned or even like in the case of the mayor of Aramaio, he has even been tried by
As the construction advances other problems surface to do with the effect on the land. These are mainly related to landslides and aquifers. The construction is happening in some quite unestable areas and as a consequence of tunnel diggings o soil removal some areas have collapsed, being the main one the landslide at Aramaio. This one covered the main access to this town with tones of soil and caused big trouble to locals who had to used other little access, meaning several road accidents. The landslide happened on 21st january and has not been cleared yet. Aother one happened at Zornotza. The Itsasondo area is very unestable area too as it was a mining area. From the underground research due to be done, constructors only made one.
The problems with the aquifers are many as the Basque HST crosses many Karstic areas. On one side it affects the environment and farmers as they provide water for their needs and fields/animals from them. On the other, they are big risks for the railway itself as many tunnels are included in the project. We have councils ordering their own researchs as those responsible for the construction (institutions, construction companies) haven't done so. Or we also have farms who are left without water neither for the inhabitans nor for the plants/animals. Some had water taken to them by tank after being left with non.
Because of this and much more we are actively campaigning. We won't give up!!
This is neither the only campaign against HST. In Italy a big campaign has been on for long time in the Susa Valley, the Sagnore Valley, which gas even achieved to pospone the project for years. this year the gov tried to start it again, but there they were all the activists in the snowed Alps valley to stop them again. Appart from the opposition in the Basque side (+ Landes, Aquitaine), there also many campaigns in the French state: Bretagne, Gironde, Garonne, Loire, Poitou and Limousin, South Rhône and Centrel Pyrénées valleys. In the Spanish state there is some opossiotion in Asturies and Cantabria. The High Speed Train belongs to the European project for high speed transport. To add to all the big airports and roads, cheap flights pumping up tones of CO2 in the air with the only purpose of getting fater, linking the big cities and keeping us moving. Estimulating the capitalist system without stopping, that is the aim of neoliberal capitalism, the same one which has got us into this financial, environmental and energy crises. The same aim they still keep pursuing. The aim we try to challenge.
Following the Joint Declaration signed by different European anti-HST Campaigns and presented at the EU and at the Mobility and Transport Coference of Zaragoza
(1) http://www.espaces-transfrontaliers.org/en/conurbations....html
eurocity.net (www.eurocite.org, www.eurohiria.org)
Web pages:
Assambley against HST (anticapitalist/ anitdevelopment): http://sindominio.net/ahtez
Stop the HST!Net (Elkarlana) (Net of different organizations, unions, etc opposing HST - includding the previous one): www.ahtgelditu.org
================================================================================================================
Joint Declaration of European anti-HST Campaigns, January 23, 2010.
This declaration was worked out by associations and movements of various Member States of the European Union (France, S'pain, Italy) which fight against the construction of new HSR lines (High Speed Railway) and great capacity lines dedicated to fast freight , and which have gathered today to join their forces and to make their voices louder and stronger, since the problems that they are facing are the same everywhere.
The opposition will therefore surpass the local frame to become European.
We, citizens , associations and movements of various states (Italy, France, S'pain) in our fight against the projects of HSR and great capacity lines dedicated to fast freight
Confirm that:
- These projects constitute an ecological, socioeconomic and human disaster for the territories they cross: destruction of natural spaces and agricultural lands, a new barrier of harmful effects and degradation of the environment with important negative impacts for the residents;
- These projects are unable to lead to the participation of the population in decision processes.
We denounce the opacity with which the governments and the administrations act before the deep social malaise, and their scorn of the arguments and proposals of the citizens;
- the official justification for the construction of these new lines is constructed systematically resorting to false hypotheses about the traffic and the socioeconomic yield, as well as to an underestimation of the costs of accomplishment in order to "sell" better a project whose real utility has not been demonstrated; on the contrary, numerous studies have proven the non relevance of these projects in economic and social terms (Essig Reports in Britain, Bermejo in Southern Basque Country, Citec in Northern Basque Country, Brossard 1998 and Ponts et Chaussées 2003 in the Rhone-Alps, Cahiers of the Technical Observatory of the Lyon-Turin in Italy - Italian organization), as well as the reports of the French and Italian Courses of Accounts;
- the priority granted to the HSR is done, with a colossal cost, to the detriment of the traffic of proximity and of the priority in the maintenance and development of the existing railway networks, which are neither maintained nor optimized so as to develop a transport of freight that would irrigate the territories and a public service of transport accessible to all;
- The construction of the HSR falls under a perpetual search for great infrastructures (motorways, enlarging of the airports, super-ports…) and is contrary to the concept of sustainable development. We oppose the aberrant expansion of transport provoked by the globalized capitalism, and which does not allow a uniform local development, but on the contrary supports abnormal concentration of the traffics and productions and a wild delocalization.
We demand that:
- the European Commission and the European Parliament as driving force of the transport policies of medium and long distance in the European Union start a reflexion on the nonsense and unnecessary character of these great infrastructures (HSR, motorways, enlarging of the airports, super-ports…) and a major revision of the strategy of the EU as regards European transports (TEN-T, Trans European Networks – Transport);
- the Governments of France, Italy and S'pain stop immediately the construction work and projects of HSR to undertake a real uniform public debate on a European scale on the model of transport, territorial planning and organisation of our society that underlie this unrestrained development of HSR lines.
We claim that solutions are to be sought in:
-> the regeneration, maintenance and optimization of the existing lines, which is the most acceptable alternative solution from an environmental point of view, and with much lower financial costs than the construction of new lines, and which corresponds to the implementation in France of article 1 of the Grenelle Environmental law of August 3, 2009 (solution also recommended in the “White Book” by Delors);
-> the decrease of transports, together with a major transformation of the economic and social model, particularly by giving priority to proximity and to relocalizing the economy;
-> the restitution, as a last resort, of the capacity of decision to the most directly affected populations, foundation of an authentic democracy and local autonomy in front of an imposed development
Bristol anarchist bookfair latest: stalls and meeting timetable [1]
27-08-2010 09:26
it's gonna be rammed to the rafters!Its all systems go down at the bookfair bunker. After a late flurry of stall applications left us having to cut some stallholders table requests (and then there were more that missed the deadline!); and having dealt with the tricky task of reducing 29 workshop proposals down to 15 (originally 12, but we found 3 more spaces), and letting the unsuccesful proposers know the result; the bookfair programme is now complete!
Attached is a timetable listing all the meetings/workshops/films/talks by the hour across all four rooms. Bookfair doors open at 10.30am to the public, meetings run from 11am to 6pm. In case you forgot, its at Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3QY.
Full Story | Full Bookfair Programme with Descriptions
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Here we have a full A to Z list of the groups, campaigns, distros, publishers and authors running stalls at the bookfair, spread across 2 halls on 2 separate floors:
Active Distro; AK Press; Bath Activist Network; Bicycology; Bloom & Curll Bookshop; Breviary Stuff Publications; Bristol Anarchist Black Cross prisoner support; Bristol Anarchist Federation; Bristol Animal Rights Collective; Bristol Antifa; Bristol Anti-Militarists; Bristol Housing Action Movement; Bristol Indymedia; Bristol Industrial Workers of the World; Bristol No Borders; Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign; Bristol Radical History Group; Bristol & Bath Rising Tide; Bristol & South West Hunt Sabs; Calais Migrant Solidarity; Class War Federation (London); Cowley Club bookshop (Brighton); East Bristol Debtors Alliance; Free Info; Hereford Solidarity League; Jari Moate (author); Just Press; Just Seeds (New York); Justice for Jock; Kebele InfoShop; Labour Behind the Label; Last Hours mag; Living Easton; Long John Silver Trust & Fiducia; Mute mag; Northern Voices (Northern anarchist network); Past Tense Press (London); Project for a Participatory Society-UK; Reel News; Richard Hart (author); Schnews (Brighton); Solidarity Federation (South West); Stair Books; Tangent Books; The Factory; The Smiling Chair Anarchist Bookshop (Bristol).
You can see the full programme and meeting descriptions here http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair.org/?page_id=683
We'll be seeing you on the day then...
Norway Divests from Leviev Companies Due to Israeli Settlement Construction
27-08-2010 09:18
August 23, New York, NY – In a major victory for the international movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, the Norwegian government announced today that it has divested from Lev Leviev’s company Africa Israel Investments and its construction subsidiary Danya Cebus due to their construction of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The move followed a campaign of more than a year by affected Palestinian villages of Bil’in and Jayyous and by Norwegian, Palestinian, Israeli, and international activist groups, including Adalah-NY, calling on the Norwegian government to divest from Africa Israel.
The companies of Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev have been the target of a boycott campaign that led UNICEF and Oxfam to renounce donations from Leviev, the British government to sever business ties with Leviev, celebrities to seek distance from him, and divestment by other major investment firms.
Info for Brighton anti-fash mobilisation
27-08-2010 09:15
More information about Monday's counter-mobilisation to the English Nationalist Alliance in brighton.Bradford: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
27-08-2010 09:11
A reflection on the build up to the EDL's planned rally in the centre of Bradford.Protest against the informal EU Defence Summit 2010
27-08-2010 07:03
Demonstration September 23rd 2010, Ghent (Belgium), to oppose war preparation:Protest against the informal EU Defence Summit 2010.
More info: www.vrede.be
The United States Federal Government and Property Value Manipulation
27-08-2010 06:45
President Obama said; “Failure is not an option”. I agree, failure is not an option, failure is a given.
Nottingham Animal Rights Events
27-08-2010 02:31
A hasty report on forthcoming events as we are off the ARUK National Gathering in a few hours!
(http://www.veggies.org.uk/2010/08/animal-rights-gathering-2010/)
Sat 28/08/2010 - Greyhounds information stall in Arnold, meeting 12:30 in the Arnold main square near Wilkos.
Wed 01/09/2010 - Next Derby Animal Rights meeting at the Thomas Leaper in Derby at 21:00.
http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=1777
Thu 02/09/2010 - Brinsley Animal Rescue work evening transport available.
http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=1562
Fri 03/09/2010 - Greyhounds demo at Colwick race course. Meet there at 18:30. Contact Martin
http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=1535
Sat 04/09/2010 - Exotic pet shop day of action, meeting 12:30 at Japanese Water gardens in Stapleford (who also host the Great British Circus and keep fish in poor conditions), followed by 14:00 at New World Exotics in Beeston.
Tue 07/09/2010 - Brinsley Animal Rescue work evening transport available.
Thu 09/09/2010 - Next Nottingham Animal Rights planning meeting (at Broadway).
http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=112
Animal Accident Rescue Unit require publicity. Can you help?
They provide an essential ambulance service for non-humans.
If you need them, their 999 equivalent number is: 01159321555.
..and finally:
Check out Angsty Teen's catchy veggie/vegan song!
More on the Animal Rights Calendar at http://www.veggies.org.uk/arc.php