UK Newswire Archive
The Scoundrel #2
02-03-2012 18:55
The March edition of The Scoundrel is out now, taking on the age of austerity, the cult of white victimhood and encouraging radical refusal. There’s also a feature on the militant feminist anti-imperialist movement, Rote Zora, whose actions inspire us to dust off our incendiary devices. In our regular lifestyle column, The Scoundrel gives tips on how to disguise yourself from your enemies and we have a special offer on tat so send in the money ;)
Who the fuck are we?
Greetings and welcome to a new paper that we hope will give the powers that be some discomfort over the coming months.
The Scoundrel is an offensive and probably illegal publication that isn’t too bothered about becoming respectable or even acceptable. We want to bring a bit of oxygen to the glowing embers of social warfare that lie all around.
The Scoundrel is not a mouthpiece for any organisation and does not have a political manifesto. What is printed here is material that we think is useful in struggling for total freedom and the survival of the excluded.
The powers that be have had it far too easy in recent decades, thanks partly to the left, the unions and other specialists of struggle who want everyone to play nicely and not threaten their privileged roles. Thankfully people are starting to wake up and take their lives into their own hands.
We welcome people who like what they see here to get involved, send us your ideas and spread the word. And most importantly, go out there and do something.
The Scoundrel
Anti-corruption activist savages BBC on its 80th Birthday
02-03-2012 17:47
The BBC is marking the 80th anniversary of its World Service, and has been gushing about its supposed virtues. It claims to be: ‘fearless and so impartial that it allows its critics to argue their case on its own programs’. Meanwhile it continues to white wash fraud and corruption on UK military equipment contracts.IDS challenged at workfare protest in tottenham
02-03-2012 16:55
hearing that iain duncan-smith (the secretary of state for work and pensions) was due to address a conference in tottenham this morning, 'boycott workfare' and 'youthfightforjobs' organised a protest outside the venue. he arrived late, and walked up to the door shouting that "workfare is a brilliant scheme". when challenged over public statements, he refused to engage, instead pushing a young man out of the way to enter the building.
click on image for larger version. 'some rights reserved' - free for credited non-commercial use, otherwise contact author for permission
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just over a dozen protestors arrived outside what was once the tottenham town hall (now a business centre) this morning, to await the arrival of iain duncan-smith to a conference there. their anger (displayed in their chants and banners) was at the workfare schemes which force unemployed and disabled people to work for nothing for vast corporations which bank huge profits.
both iain duncan-smith and chris grayling have been caught out recently telling porkies about the workfare scheme, and as a result, the dept of work and pension had to hurriedly change guidance on their website last week, removing references to the mandatory aspect of the workfare schemes. a document resulting from a freedom of information request has also now disappeared from the site. the document gave a list of private companies benefiting from forced labour, and belies chris graylings assertion that no inividuals were mandated to work for big companies.
as iain duncan-smith got out of his chauffeured car and approached the building this morning, two protestors, armed with one of the missing documents, attempted to ask him about the lies. but he was already shouting loudly as he approached, saying that "workfare is an absolutely brilliant scheme". seeing the FOI document in one of the protestors hands, he refused to engage, and literally pushing one of the young men out of the way, continued to the door, and was ushered in by private security.
one of the few police assigned to the protest ruefully suggested someone might like to make a complaint of assault - he was clearly not a big fan of the cuts or of mr duncan-smith, later telling us that most of his family had already been affected.
two delegates from 'youth fight for jobs' did manage to attend the conference. no doubt they will report on the website at www.youthfightforjobs.com
OZ Senate-Excerpts from Strtafor emails targetting Assange & WikiLeaks
02-03-2012 14:37
"Ferreting out [Julian Assange's] confederates is also key. Find outwhat other disgruntled rogues inside the tent or outside [sic]. Pile
on. Move him from country to country to face various charges for the
next 25 years. But, seize everything he and his family own, to include
every person linked to Wiki."
Forest of Dean Wilderness Centre requires urgent suport
02-03-2012 14:29
The Protect the Wilderness Centre campaign faces the courts on Monday 5th March against Gloucester Council. We are under immediate threat of eviction. Please help.Weekend of Online Action Against Workfare - Saturday 3rd - Sunday 4th March
02-03-2012 14:08
Facebook page now up at:
http://www.facebook.com/events/121631907965194/ Protests against workfare will be taking place in 35 (and counting) locations tomorrow as part of a National Day of Action called by Boycott Workfare. For the latest details of all protests visit their website at:
http://www.boycottworkfare.org/?p=359 Despite Chris Grayling's humiliating climbdown on workfare this week, the battle is far from over. The government have not scrapped workfare sanctions. They have removed some sanctions from one of the five schemes.
Just like before, we need to show that companies profiting from forced labour that is not acceptable. Under the Work Programme claimants can be forced to work in private companies for up to six months or face the poverty and possible homelessness that benefit sanctions bring.
Deconstructing the Attack against Occupy London
02-03-2012 14:07
In the evening of February 28, 2012, a double blind experiment was performed on the political power structure of Europe. Its purpose was to determine whether a specific spying attack was still ongoing after an apparent changing of chairs in the hierarchies, and its result is technically positive. The recent assault against Occupy London appears to be the grotesque response to the measurement.Super Quarry Sabotaged
02-03-2012 11:13
Towards the end of last year the super quarry at Bardon Hill in Leictershire was sabotaged. This is the flagship quarry of Bardon Aggrigates, subsiduary of Aggrigate Industries, the company removing mountain tops for roadstone in Glensanda Scotland.Occupied Times on eviction
02-03-2012 10:55
Bailiffs, assisted by police, launched the action to clear the long-standing Occupy London camp at St. Paul’s this week. Shortly before midnight on Monday, 27th February, bailiffs, officers in riot gear and police vans began to draw together to enforce the eviction order sought by the City of London Corporation – the archaic governing body of London’s financial district – that had been upheld in court last week. As this enforcement was underway, the nearby ‘School of Ideas’ community centre was also evicted, in violation of ongoing court proceedings, with the building later razed to the ground.
Since the rejection of the appeals case before the Royal Court of Justice on February 22nd, most valuable items and a number of tents had already been removed by protesters from the site at St. Paul’s in anticipation of police action and based on fears about the disregard for protesters’ property. Since Friday night, occupiers had held a permanent and peaceful vigil on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral in anticipation of the eviction. Through the camp’s General Assembly it was decided to endorse individual responses to the eviction, and legal guidelines were distributed throughout the camp and online to inform protesters of the possible legal ramifications of various forms of resistance.
On Monday afternoon, Occupy London received an anonymous phone call from someone claiming to work for the City of London, who warned of preparations for an imminent eviction. Shortly after midnight, activists alerted through phone trees and tweets began to arrive at St. Paul’s. City of London police set up a cordon around the perimeter of St. Paul’s preventing anyone from entering the area after 12:30 a.m. At the site of the camp, most occupiers had gathered on the Cathedral steps – considered by many a safe zone, since the church’s land was not covered by the eviction order – while around 20 protesters gathered on top of a wooden structure that had been erected from pallets and kitchen shelves in front of the cathedral. Shielded by police in full riot gear, bailiffs began clearing and breaking up tents while some protesters prayed, sang, danced and broadcast the eviction via several mobile livestreams.
At around 2 a.m., and without any verbal warning, police and bailiffs tightened the kettle around the wooden structure and began to dismantle it. According to legal observers that were present at the scene, the police acted with “too much haste and not enough caution”. Several protesters were forcibly pulled to the ground and stepped on by riot police for acts of peaceful resistance. By 3:20 a.m., the last remaining protesters had been dragged from the structure. When questioned about the disproportionate show of force, representatives for the City of London Corporation and the City of London Police had “no comment” for the Occupied Times. Legal observers reported that while there were around 20 arrests for obstruction of police work, the majority of activists on site complied peacefully with the eviction order. The last of the occupiers chained himself to a tree; it took an hour and a half to remove him.
Protesters who had withdrawn to the steps of St. Paul’s also found themselves confronted by police. Officers claimed that church officials had asked them to clear the front of the cathedral under Section 14 of the Public Order Act – the threat of “serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community”. While several police observers watched from the upper balcony of St. Paul’s, units in riot gear dragged protesters off the church steps. Occupiers who wanted to collect their personal belongings were sometimes refused access, and saw their bags trashed by bailiffs and city workers. Around 3:30 a.m. the last protesters were removed while chanting “Shame on you!” and “You work for us!” to police officers.
No church officials were visibly present to witness the forcible eviction of peaceful protesters from the cathedral steps, and Giles Fraser, the former canon chancellor who resigned in protest against church chapter’s decisions regarding the camp, was prevented from entering the site. Fraser described the eviction as “a terrible sight” and “a sad day for the Church of England”. Tammy Samede, a supporter of Occupy London and litigant-in-person before the High Court agreed. “I am religious. To see the police sweeping across God’s doorstep is very upsetting. Even during a war, churches are sanctuaries, priests are always able to move between opposing sides – but apparently not here.” According to Anon, another Occupy LSX supporter, “Maybe we should seek sanctury from a Mosque, because the Christian church totally let its own followers down”.
To many, the camp at St. Paul’s had become a real home over the past four months. According to a statement released through the Occupy London website, “We’ll miss Occupy London Stock Exchange but not because of the tents, or even the kitchen shelves: it was a makeshift, loosely cooperative, occasionally quarrelling and fiercely idealistic group of people who came together to achieve something extraordinary. The relationships forged during these strange and beautiful four and a half months still have much further to run.” Says Tammy Samede, “I had nothing but my tent, a change of clothes and a few books. But over the past months I have been happier that I had been in many years.” Ronan McNern, a member of the media working group, agreed: “This is where we built a community, of occupiers, homeless people and others. People lived here, people came for weekends. Their homes are now being destroyed, their tents are being taken. It is demoralising. What happens to the right to assemble? Will we be allowed to express our views here again, or is that right reserved for the Queen and the privileged?”
By 6 a.m., around 70 protesters were left without shelter. While the City of London Corporation promised to provide accommodation on the night of the eviction, they failed to demonstrate taking steps to ensure that vulnerable individuals had access to shelter, counselling, and food.
At the nearby School of Ideas, around 15 occupiers were evicted, despite the fact that court proceedings were still underway and the building – which had been established in the name of Occupy to serve as a community centre – was considered a legal squat. By 6 a.m., bulldozers had arrived at the scene. Two hours later, the demolition of the abandoned school was underway. Reports later suggested that the possession order for occupiers at the School of Ideas had been signed by Secretary of State for Justice Kenneth Clarke.
While the eviction of the St. Paul’s camp was an emotional moment for many occupiers and ended the world’s longest occupation (and one of the largest), many supporters expressed optimism about the weeks and months ahead. Tammy Samede said: “This eviction is about tents, not people. They can remove our camp but they cannot silence us.” According to Ronan McNern, ongoing projects such as Occupation Records, Working Group initiatives and the two weeks of protest that are planned around May Day will carry the momentum forward and signal that the movement has outgrown its initial “camp stage”. Jamie Kelsey-Fry, a member of the media and citizenship Working Groups, agreed: “Movements move. This was the first step, but Occupy is about so much more than a single camp. If anything, this is the end of the beginning.”
The New Walking Dead
02-03-2012 07:14
The Possibilities And Advantages Of Solitary Activism
02-03-2012 00:15
Why it may be better not to be like herds of cattle waiting to be driven apart and eaten by the wolf.Occupy Nottingham: Council serve notice
01-03-2012 22:55
On Monday 27th February, Nottingham City Council served Occupy Nottingham with notice to leave within 7 days, after which they will serve notice of intention to seek possession through the courts. The occupiers state that they "have collectively decided so far, not to move from the Market Square, and through civil disobedience and lawful rebellion we will stay, and prevent intimidation tactics being used on those involved with Occupy." A petition has been launched calling on the council to reconsider.
On the newswire: Petition against council decision to evict Occupy | Occupy Nottingham Common Statement | Occupy Notts Statement re the council 28/02/12 | Occupy Nottingham to receive eviction notice
Previous feature: Occupy Nottingham: 100 days and counting | Occupy Nottingham: Xmas and New Year in Market Sq | Occupy Nottingham: Two months in | Student photographer hassled by Notts Police | Occupy Nottingham: No plans for eviction. Yet. | NSAFC Report on @OccupyNotts 36 Days In | Occupy Nottingham: Still there | Occupy Nottingham: Moved but still in occupation | Nottingham Occupation Continues | Nottingham is occupied
The council’s move comes after the Court of Appeal refused to hear Occupy LSX’s appeal against eviction (pdf) and the camp outside St Paul’s was evicted by bailiffs and the Metropolitan Police.
Occupy Nottingham had enjoyed a relatively cordial relationship with the council and were even graced by the presence of Council Leader Jon Collins. Occupiers report that they had been in discussions with the council about moving the camp from the square. Campers describe the plan as "a staged withdrawal of the camp from the 'square', by first compacting the camp & replacing the barriers, then moving to an alternative camp location within the city, leaving a public discussion & info stand in residence on the square."
According to Occupy, while the finer details had not been worked out, the deal would have seen "the camp removed from the square to an alternative location at no cost to the council & with no need to spend Nottingham's revenue on expensive court costs, had been made & would have happened with the public’s consent." The camp had already been reduced in size as a sign of good faith with plans (now halted) in place to reduce it further.
With occupiers now restating their intention to stay, the matter will now move to the courts. Occupiers are building what they describe as "a great case". But this is not the end of the matter, even if the court finds against them. As Andy Platt of NCC LOls observes, the potential political ramifications for the council are serious and they need "to have a good long think about whether it really wants bailiffs charging in at such a high profile public spot."
Notts SOS: city council budget protest
01-03-2012 22:55
Campaigners to protest at city council budget meeting
On Monday March 5th, Nottinghamshire Save Our Services (Notts SOS) will protest outside the Council House when Nottingham City Council meets to vote on its budget for 2012-13.
From 12.30pm-1.30pm, campaigners from the group will join with members of Nottingham City Unison, demonstrating against the cuts to jobs and services being voted through.
There will also be a protest for people coming from work at 5pm-7pm.
Protesters hope to present a petition against the council's cuts during the lunchtime demonstration.
The budget being discussed at the meeting includes a 3.49% council tax increase alongside 195 job cuts.
The council are looking at selling-off Portland Leisure Centre; closing two centres for older people, Marlstones Elderly Person’s Home in Bulwell and the Willows Centre in Beechdale; closing the Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard; cutting food waste collections and closing nine recycling centres; and reducing funding to Connexions, a support service for young people.
The council had also propsed reducing redundancy payments for laid-off staff to the legal minimum, but has subsequently withdrawn this proposal.
In total the council hope to save £20m to cover a shortfall arising from reduced government funding as a result of the coalition government's austerity drive.
The council has also said that this will not be the end to the cuts, with an additional £24m of cutbacks required by the end of the spring 2015.
Notts SOS believe that the cuts agenda is ideologically driven and are urging councillors to stand-up to central government.
Claire Taylor from Notts SOS said, "Council Leader Jon Collins and Deputy Leader Graham Chapman have been vocally critical of central government and often with good reason. Now it's time for them to put their money where their mouth is and refuse to pass the cuts onto the people of Nottingham. Even a single council refusing to implement a cuts budget would shake the coalition government."
Notes for editors
1. Notts SOS was set up in the autumn of 2010 to campaign and oppose all cuts to services in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. We have been fighting council cuts on many levels since then, including organising a 1,200 strong march to the city centre in November 2010.
ENDS
Alter-Globalisation Week - University of Essex
01-03-2012 22:54
News from Susa Valley (Italy) : NOTAV resistance
01-03-2012 19:58
Portsmouth Fascists Banned from Facebook
01-03-2012 17:18
Up to half-a-dozen of Portsmouth's most extreme hard-line racists were suspended from social networking site Facebook this morning after uploading a vile racist slogan to the site as their profile pictures.Solidarity to the No-TAV Struggle in Susa Valley
01-03-2012 16:55
Police repression is business as usual in Europe
TAV is the italian acronym for Treno ad Alta Velocità i.e. HSR, High-Speed Rail. This is a railway that allows a sustained speed higher than 200 km/h (124 mph) and its peak speed is around 300 km/h. Even though for the most recent project of the Turin-Lyon it would be more appropriate to call it TAC (Treno ad Alta Capacità, High-Capacity Train), since it’s intended mainly for transport of goods, the misleading name of TAV remains.
In 1991 a new high-speed railway between Turin and Lyon was planned to be added to the current line across the Alps in the context of the creation of a European HSR network. The Turin-Lyon TAV is part of EU project TEN (Trans-European Network), particularly of the PP6 axis, from Lyon to the Ukrainian border. TEN project doesn’t require the railway to be of high-speed type, but the Italian and French governments agreed to build the Turin-Lyon as part of such technology.
Maps:
(http://www.transalpine.com/sites/default/files/cartographie/pdf/carte_trace_lf60_avril_2011.pdf )
(http://www.transalpine.com/sites/default/files/cartographie/pdf/carte_europe_maillon_central.pdf )
Works were supposed to start during the second half of the Nineties, but as of 2011 just a few side structures located in France have been finished. Today’s expectation is that it can’t be completed within 2030.
The project consists of two twin tunnels, each of them 56-km (35-mile) long and 6-m (20-foot) wide, reaching 2,000 meters of depth underground, plus many other satellite tunnels – each longer than 10 kilometers – one of which is planned to run under Turin. Some connection open-air stretches are also part of the plan. Exactly in this same area there is the Susa Valley – 2 km at its widest – which French TGVs already run across simply by reducing their speed.
The estimated cost of the line is 13 billion euros but on the basis of already completed TAV trunks, the final cost is expected to be about 4 times higher than planned.
The struggle
Several local committees, approximately one for each town, sustain and organize the struggle. The committees involve common citizens and a few local branches of national environmentalist associations. Some left-wing political parties and trade unions (amongst which FIOM, CUB and COBAS) sympathize with the struggle, although they are not formally involved in it.
The first opposition dates back to 1992 with a committee called Habitat. The first project was expected to pull down houses in Condove and Caprie, two little towns (pop. 3,000) in the valley. The first committee included some experts of transport systems and acquired technical data that were to become decisive for the future of the struggle.
The struggle grew slowly during the first years, but it reached the mainstream media at the beginning of the new century, when the number of people involved in demonstrations hit 10,000.
In October 2005, protesters stopped for one day the installation of three detection points in Mompantero, despite a huge police intervention. In the following two months the zone of detection points was military occupied by police forces, with three checkpoints. Some people had to show their documents each time they move to/from their house.
On the 30th of November, 2005 the acquisition of pieces of land for an auxiliary tunnel in Venaus (near Mompantero) was stopped by more than 2,000 people, giving the start to what is called ’The free repubblic of Venaus) link al post. This experience forced the government to open a new discussion about the line, which led to a new project, slightly better than the old line but actually not so different.
In May 2011 the government announced they were going to open the construction site of the new line in Chiomonte, but the No-TAV movement stopped the first attempt and kept guarding the zone for about one month, until June 27th, when over 1,000 policemen sent them away using CS gas weapons (use of which is prohibited under the terms of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, signed by most nations, including Italy, in 1993). On July 3rd another big demonstration link al post (about 40,000 people) tried to repeat what they did in 2005 but this time the reaction of police forces was stronger and they didn’t succeed.
At the end of Summer 2011, police and military forces were still guarding the area but the work hadn’t started yet, and protest continued in various ways, from nightly cacerolazo to peaceful invasions of the restricted zone. When the protest got near the fences most of the times police used CS gas to drive back protesters.
On September 2011 two women have been arrested with accusation of aggression to a public officer and held in prison awaiting for the trial.
The reasons of the NoTAV (syntetically)
Unusefulness of the TAV:
- The pro-TAV says that without the new line Turin-Lyon, the Italy will be isolated from the rest of the Europe. Actually in Susa Valley already exists maby connections Italy-France, that is: highway of the Frejus (A32) , railway of the Frejus (Turin-Modane), and two international roads.
- The promoters have alway been speaking about an increasing trafic on the line, but the real data about last 20 years show a substantial stagnation, whith a little decrease after 2008, both of passengers and goods.
- The railway of the Frejus in it’s Alpine part is used less than half of it’s capacity.
Unsustainable damages:
- According to preliminar project of 2010 the expense will be of 14000 millions od euros only for the part in italian territory (much more according to indipendent calculations). To find enough money italy nedds to contract new debts with banks, but Italin public debt is already over 130% of PIL, and one of the highest in Europe, this debt is the reason for wich italian government in the last months is cutting most public services.
- None of the evaluations says that the takings of the new railway can suffice to pay the expenses .
Nagative environmental impact:
- The work for the construction of the line will last for more than 20 years, during wich hundreds of trucks will cross the valley bringing excavation material, with great emission of CO2 and thin dusts
- The work for the galleries are likely to affect the water-bearing stratum, this already happend inTuscany, where 7 villages got their aqueducts dry due to TAV works.
- There are many proofs that the mountains under wich the main tunnel must be excavated contains uranium and asbestos, and the reassurances of the pro-TAV about security techniques to be used are vague and contradictory.
Resources:
(en) high speed transport in Italy
(en+it) Video en.arcoiris.tv
(en) Article italycalling.wordpress.com
(it+en+fr+es+de) Website www.notavtorino.org
(it) Website www.notav.eu
(it) Website www.notav.info
(it) Website www.ambientevalsusa.it