UK Newswire Archive
Take Back the Land! Just days to go…
08-07-2012 17:49
Read on for programme highlights, how you can get involved and direct action resources. We’re ready – but the question is: is Scottish Coal?
More On The Mining Strike... How The Police Are Really Behaving
08-07-2012 16:57
Police sadism in the mining conflict.
B.A.R.F. Pickets Smiths
08-07-2012 16:21
Yesterday, 12 activists from B.A.R.F., alongside supporters from Bristol Anarchist Federation, Bath People’s Assembly and elsewhere, picketed W.H. Smiths on Union Street in Bath, due to the company’s inclusion in the Con-Dem government’s controversial Workfare scheme.
'liberate tate' donation to BP-sponsored tate
07-07-2012 18:55
more than a hundred people took part in a beautifully co-ordinated action today, to deliver a 'gift to the nation' to tate modern gallery. the giant wind turbine blade was delivered in three parts and lovingly assembled in front of security and the public in the heart of the famous tate modern turbine hall. BP, the controversial sponsor of the museum, has recently announced the closure of its wind energy division.
click on image for larger version. 'some rights reserved' - free for credited non-commercial use, otherwise contact author for permission
-----
having signed up to the info line on the 'liberate tate' website, i received a text this morning to be at st paul's at 11am.
there i found a few dozen people who after a short wait followed three black-veiled figures towards the millenium bridge. joining us along the way were another dozen people who were carrying what looked to be a huge white blade, like the sharpened front end of some canoe boat, clearly quite heavy and several metres long.
when we arrived at tate modern, we went round to the ramp entrance and saw that two other groups had just arrived ahead of us. now there were well over a hundred people, and three giant pieces of sculpture, one of them so large and heavy that it was being wheeled on a large trolley.
tate security guards made some half-hearted attempts to stop access, and for a moment, one of them even lay down in front of the wheels of the trolley, but after some peaceful negotiation and gentle reasoning, they moved to one side, and the 'donation' continued.
at the bottom of the grand turbine hall ramp, it became clearer that the three pieces made up a 35 foot long blade from a wind turbine.
the multi-national oil behemoth, BP, is controversially one of the major sponsors of 'tate modern', and BP has recently announced it is actually closing down its wind energy division, and ramping up its oil exploitation of the arctic, and its highly dangerous and destructive tar-sands projects.
in its communiqué, 'liberate tate' speak of the tate's continuing acceptance of the poisoned 'gift' of funding from BP, despite years of protest and thousands of signatories to petitions. so the campaigning group have decided to donate a new artwork, a "gift to the nation" for consideration. the work has been lovingly restored and prepared over a period of two years after being found disused in a field in mid-wales. it was finally cut into three pieces, transported to london, prepared with moulded wooden fixings for re-assembly, and then in a secret and brilliantly organised action, brought to the museum today.
there, in the middle of the turbine hall, dozens of people held hands in a ring to protect the structure and to look after the safety of the public, while dozens more began the delicate and difficult operation to connect and re-assemble the three mammoth sections. eventually, it was ready, and first the trolley and then mounting blocks were removed, and the blade was carefully lowered to the ground in one piece.
as it landed a huge round of applause rang out, both from participants and also from the general public who were watching from every vantage point. a few police had by now arrived, but after speaking with organisers, decided not to intervene.
as the trolley, and the crowd, made their way to the top of the ramp, there was a brief problem with some police who were trying to collect names and addresses, they claimed because of an alleged assault, but the person who made the allegation could not be found, so it soon became an untenable position, the doors were opened, and everyone left, while tate staff puzzled over what to do with the massive gift.
a little while later, a small group of tate liberators returned to provide official paperwork (including the official donation letter, additional info, a CV of previous works, and a long list of reviews and articles about their previous work). they handed this over to the duty manager and then left.
unfortunately, there were some installation works going on at the tate, so they had access to quite a lot of workmen and equipment, and they very soon got to work dismantling and removing the wind blade. within a couple of hours it appeared outside the front doors, cordoned off and hopefully waiting to be moved to a permament display position (or not).
Whistleblower Reveals Himself: Warns of False Flag at Olympics
07-07-2012 10:23
The undercover journalist who blew the whistle on G4S, the security company responsible for the 2012 Olympics, exposes plans for a false flag terrorist attack on the London Olympics.4th July: Report from Menwith Hill 'Independence FROM America' event
07-07-2012 08:12
How do we fight against criminal banks?
07-07-2012 00:00
The recent scandal with barclays, and the alleged Ed Balls/ Labour Party/ Bank of England conspiracy to fiddle the Libor rate has once more called for tougher action against Bankers. But how can politicians be expected to investigate bankers?
Rossport Solidarity Camp Update June/July 2012
06-07-2012 20:55
Hi from Mayo!
Since the last update we've had the annual June Gathering, dug in at the camp after an eviction scare and had a week of action against Shell. Local Shell to Sea spokesperson Terence Conway appealed his prison sentence and remains free to work against Shell but joins the other campaigners who got suspended sentences in February. Lots of events coming up soon on the camp and around the area. Read on and consider coming to visit and stay at the camp whenever you can.
1- Upcoming Events
Peoples' forum 7th July
Day of Action -13th July
Meitheal Iorrais-14th -15th July
Wind turbine course 4th - 10th August
The future of the camp weekend 1st September
2 - News and Actions
June Gathering
Week of action
Shell noise at Glengad
Earthquake!
County Council disrupted
3 - Court
Terence is free!
9 people up on public order charges
4 - Wishlist
-----------------------------------
(1) UPCOMING EVENTS
Peoples' forum 7th July 2012
A Peoples' Forum will be held in Inver Community Centre on Saturday 7th July 2012, focusing on human rights reports and reportage.
Poster and details: http://www.shelltosea.com/content/peoples-forum-seminar-7th-july
Day of Solidarity 13th July 2012
In support of the communities in Erris under occupation by Shell and the state
There's a day of solidarity planned for Friday the 13th of July. We look forward to an unlucky day for shell and a lovely weekend, Click here for poster - please print and distribute and organise to get to the camp if you can: http://www.shelltosea.com/content/day-solidarity-13th-july-2012
Meitheal Iorrais 14th & 15th July, 2012V3
Meitheal Iorrais - a gathering to celebrate and grow community resilience - will be taking place at the Rossport Solidarity Camp in Aughoose, Erris Co. Mayo on the 14th/15th July, 2012.
The weekend will include a ‘meitheal' at the camp gardens and local farms, workshops, discussions, kids activities, music and fun! The programme has been put together to give as much time as possible to walk the land, to remember the beauty of this place, so we have placed our talks and discussions together, leaving space during the day for fresh air, work and play. We are open to suggestions so if you have any ideas for topics of discussion, let us know. Looking forward to hearing from you and hope to see you for the meitheal. Poster and more details: http://www.shelltosea.com/content/meitheal-iorrais
DIY Wind Turbine course at Rossport Solidarity Camp, Saturday 4th - Friday 10th August
This course runs from Saturday 4th August to Friday 10th August and will build a 4.2m grid-connected wind-turbine. It costs €300 (waged) or €200 (unwaged) and is part funded by Gluaiseacht. The course covers all the practical elements of building a 4.2 meter diameter wind turbine and gives an overview of all the technical aspects needed to create a wind based renewable energy system. Participants will get hands on experience welding a turbine mounting, carving wooden blades and building the electrical generator using magnets and copper coils. This is the third time the course has been run in Mayo and it has always been great fun and very empowering. The course will be run by V3 Power, a D.I.Y renewable energy cooperative and based on Hugh Piggotts wind turbine designs. It will be hosted by Rossport Solidarity Camp in Pollathomais, County Mayo - http://www.shelltosea.com/content/diy-wind-turbine-course-rossport-solidarity-camp
The Future of Rossport Solidarity Camp?
Weekend meeting 1st-2nd September
Venue: To be confirmed
The Rossport Solidarity Camp was set up in June 2005 with the primary intention of supporting the local community in their struggle against Shell and the Irish state. The idea of the camp was to provide a place for people from outside the area to stay when they came to see what was going on and hopefully get involved. We saw our other functions as providing protest ideas and training, links to other campaigns, and internationalising the campaign. In celebration of how far we have come and in response to how much the campaign and the world has changed over seven years we're calling a meeting of the minds invested in this camp and this campaign. We would like campers past and present to come together for a meeting over weekend to figure out one question on all our minds - where do we go from here? How should the camp continue?
The idea for this weekend meeting came from discussion at this year's June gathering. In preparation for the weekend we will be sending out the notes from the discussion, contacting campers past, sending out some thought provoking questions and gathering input from those unable to attend in person. Contact rossportsolidaritycamp@gmail.com if you would like to take part in the weekend. Full details to follow shortly.
(2) NEWS AND ACTIONS
June Bank Holiday Gathering
Well we had great weather during the gathering which had the theme "linking community struggles". There was a great atmosphere, lovely sunny evenings, music around the bonfire, and thought provoking workshops. The camp was lively and cheerful as everyone pulled together to fortify it from the threat of eviction by Mayo county Council
http://www.shelltosea.com/content/rossport-solidarity-camp-june-weekend-experience
Week of action
The week of action started with fortifying the camp against eviction, and as the camp was still happily pitched on Tuesday morning, we decided to put our energy into stopping Shell.
http://www.shelltosea.com/content/week-stopping-shell-rossport-solidarity-camp
http://www.shelltosea.com/content/new-release-further-garda-violence-corrib-protests-continue
Shell hydro testing noise
Shell chose the June bank holiday weekend to hydro test the off shore pipeline. This caused an unbearable high pitched noise audible across Glengad and even across the bay in Ceathrú Taidhg Residents had no where to turn - the county council had allowed and shut up for the weekend.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0605/1224317294120.html
Earthquake!
On Wednesday 6th June 2012, Mayo was hit by the largest ever earthquake in Irish history: the location of the epicentre was near the Corrib gas field, funny enough Shell had just started carrying out a seismic survey.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0607/1224317443871.html
http://www.shelltosea.com/content/shell-corrib-gas-project-ireland-shaky-ground
Mayo County Councils AGM disrupted by a mysterious noise
For the entirety of the June bank holiday the people of the area were disrupted by a terrible noise coming from Shell's work in Glengad. Mayo County Council said that they had "no issue" with the work being carried out so residents brought the noise to the Council AGM in Castlebar to help Mayo Councillors understand the local disruption they gave permission for.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/102028
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0626/1224318727468.html
Visiting Norwegian Fisherman warns of dangers of Seismic surveying
Shell and Statoil are currently carrying out Seismic surveys off the Mayo coast. In this video Norwegian fisherman Bjørnar Nicolaisen warns of the consequences that "seismic shootings" has had on marine life and the fishing industry when it was carried out in Norway. Fishing catches reduced by 60% in the year after the seismic surveys started and still hasn't returned to normal levels.
http://www.shelltosea.com/content/norwegian-fisherman-warns-destruction-seismic-survey
http://www.shelltosea.com/content/norwegians-unaware-role-statoil-says-economist
The curious case of the missing bowl
http://www.shelltosea.com/content/shells-begging-bowl-recovered-ballyglass-pier
(3) COURT
Nine people appeared in Bellmullet District Court on the 13th of June on public order charges from the week of action and are due to reappear in court on 12th of September to plead and fix a date for hearings. Terence Conway also appeared in Castlebar Circuit Court on the 14th of June. His 3 month prison sentence was appealed and reduced to a 3 month suspended sentence.
(4) WISHLIST
- People!
- Bikes and bike tools
- Cameras and people to use them!
- Working mobile phones (either unlocked or Irish Vodafone)
- DVD recorder
About the Rossport Solidarity Camp
At the invitation of the local community, the Rossport Solidarity Camp was set up in June 2005 on the route of the proposed Shell pipeline. The camp has progressed through a number of different locations in the last 7 years and played a role in the fight against Shell. As an organisation, the camp functions out of a permanent house & office. The camp infrastructure is set up seasonally at strategic points of opposition to Shell, and is run on the principles of non-hierarchical organisation, collective decision making and individual accountability, with a disciplined work ethic. It can be a dynamic and fun place to be. The Rossport Solidarity House & Camp provides a base for people who wish to visit the area to - learn more about/take action with - the community campaign called Shell to Sea.
Camp Aims
- Support the community in its struggle against Shell's Corrib gas project
- Provide a base for people to visit, learn and support the struggle through a number of ways including non-violent direct action
- Work as part of the national Shell to Sea campaign
- Link with other communities under threat from the fossil fuel industry and international campaigns against Shell & other oil companies
- Try to become a model of sustainability
Rossport Solidarity Camp
Barr na Coilleadh
Poll an tSómais
Ballina
Co Mayo
Tel: 0851141170
www.rossportsolidaritycamp.org
www.shelltosea.com
Pisa: the “Nuova Periferia Polivalente” has opened! (Italy)
06-07-2012 20:46
Are Rich People Unethical?
06-07-2012 20:34
A graphic to answer this questionReports from Smash EDO's Summer of Resistance
06-07-2012 15:08
http://smashedo.org.uk/summer-of-resistance
Jubilee Blood Diamond Protest
06-07-2012 14:55
Jubilee Diamond linked to family massacre.
Press Release issued Friday 6th July
For the fourth consecutive weekend human rights activists in London will stage a demonstration to highlight the linkage between the De Beers' Forevermark Steinmetz Jubilee Diamond put on display in the Tower of London and the massacre of 29 members of the Samouni family during the Israeli assault on Gaza in the winter of 2008/2009 (Operation Cast Lead)
The Steinmetz Foundation funded and supported a Unit of the Givati Brigade of the Israeli military during Cast Lead. The Givati Brigade was directly responsible for killing 29 members of the Samouni family when the house in which over 100 members of the family were forced to shelter was bombed by the Brigade. The Brigade prevented emergency medical teams from reaching the wounded and dying for four days.
A UN Human Rights Council investigation concluded that Israeli forces committed serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the three week assault that left over 1400 people dead including more than 300 children.
Demonstration have been held each weekend at the Tower of London since the Jubilee Diamond, now referred to by activists as the Samouni Blood Diamond, went on display three weeks ago. The Samouni family issued a video appeal to Queen Elizabeth II asking for the "offensive blood diamond" to be removed.
On Saturday 7th July a demonstration will take place outside De Beers jewellery shop on Piccadilly and Bond Street. According to a spokesperson the demonstrators "by focusing attention on De Beers we hope public pressure will force them to respect the wishes of the Samouni family and remove the Samouni Blood Diamond from the Tower of London. It will also provide an opportunity to inform shoppers that the diamond market is heavily contaminated with cut and polished diamonds that fund gross human rights violations, including war crimes and that these blood diamonds are not subject to any regulation and are sold to unsuspecting consumers labelled as conflict-free diamonds.
Last December Global Witness withdrew from the international diamond regulatory system know as the Kimberley Process (KP) after it failed to broaden the definition of a "conflict diamond" to include diamonds that fund human rights violations by government forces. In June, an intercessional meeting of the KP ended without reaching agreement on a proposal to ban rough diamonds that fund human rights violations by government forces associated with the mining sector but excluding cut and polished diamonds that fund human rights violations by rogue governments.
The public can have no confidence in the Kimberley Process system of self-regulation by vested interests who refuses to ban the trade in all blood diamonds.
NIGHT BATTLES BETWEEN ASTURIAN MINERS AND RIOT COPS IN POLA DE LENA (SPAIN)
06-07-2012 13:45
Local youth has made an attempt to join the struggle...roger hayes jailed unlawfully manchester courts
06-07-2012 13:23
Roger hayes british constitutional group jailed for 21 days after legal system never followed the correct process and rogers on hunger strike please share throughout media and press association
