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Leeds Bradford Newswire Archive

Update on Shell's plans in Mayo, Ireland & how you can help

04-03-2009 19:29

Shell will attempt to lay the offshore pipe this Spring and preparation work both on land and at sea is due to start in the next few weeks. We are determined to stop this preparation work and so people are needed from mid-March - May. We expect Shell to begin putting up security fences and building the compound very soon, possibly in the next days/ weeks...updates to follow

We Are An Image From The Future

04-03-2009 18:03

On Saturday 28h February 2009, a special event was hosted at The Common Place social centre in Leeds, UK. Arising from a need to assess the global economic crisis from a radical perspective whilst making links to local affairs, this meeting was arranged by the tentatively named "We Won't Pay For Their Crisis" group. It featured speakers from Leeds, Greece, Iceland and Italy as well as an open discussion, an authentic Greek vegan meal, screening of "The Potentiality of Storming Heaven" and performances from three of Yorkshire's finest DIY bands (original publicity material here).

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Police attack on Gaza convoy: Terrorising Solidarity

03-03-2009 20:53

On 13th February anti-terror powers were used to detain Burnley supporters of the Viva Palestina aid convoy enroute from Britain to Gaza. [1] Police also cordoned off two houses of British Asians during a search, thus portraying them as a threat. An Imam and his wife were subjected to strip searches in their own home.

New Course - Origins of the Credit Crunch, Newcastle, March 11th 2009

03-03-2009 13:06

'The History and Politics of the Credit Crunch’ is the title of a new course led by Dr Trevor Bark and starting on March 11th 2009 at the Workers Educational Association building at 21 Portland Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle.

Demand for energy falling as recession deepens

03-03-2009 12:24

Falling demand for energy and tighter margins has started to bite into the record gains made by energy companies over the last couple of years. The papers are today reporting that the Drax group shares are trading near a record low on the announcement of a small drop in profits between 2007 and 2008 while demand for electricity in the UK apparently fell 4.3% in the last quarter of 2008 and looks set to continue to fall as the recession deepens.

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Students Seek to End York University Arms Trade Investments

03-03-2009 02:16

Over 150 students took part in a loud and vibrant protest across the University of York's campus on Friday of last week, demanding that the institution divest itself of shares in arms companies, specifically BAE systems and Rolls Royce. Carrying colourful placards and banging pots, pans and a dustbin, the group made their way to Heslington Hall to present a petition and demand an audience with officials.

'Great' British Circus, next stop, Scunthorpe FC

02-03-2009 18:04

Scunthorpe FC are next to play host to this appalling animal circus.

Council's £50,000 attack on volunteer-run social centre

27-02-2009 19:46

Press release from The Common Place, for immediate release 7pm 27th Feb 2009

Climate suffragettes rush annual coal industry awards

27-02-2009 14:09

Another climate rush occured last night at the Landmark hotel at Marylebone. Around 100 protesters rushed into the hotel where the annual coal awards (yes, really) were meant to be taking place. In the light of the seriousness of climate change it was propably a bit of a PR own goal for the coal industry to be celebrating the dirtiest fuel on the planet. An alternative awards ceremony took place with more apropriate catagories....

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Leeds Earth First! Meeting

27-02-2009 10:49

Monday 2nd March
7pm @ Common Place
Followed by social in the Angel or wherever people want to go.

THIS IS AN OPEN MEETING

Defeating Complaints, Creating Rage by John Bowden

27-02-2009 09:57

The liberal argument that internal prison justice and the equitable resolution of prisoners' grievances is a critically important factor in maintaining the equilibrium and legitimacy of prison regimes, while also preventing the widespread embitterment of a group of people already significantly in conflict with the system, is obviously true in a particular sense. In the closed and hidden world of prison where the guards and system they enforce wield an omnipotent degree of power over prisoners the manner in which prisoners' complaints and grievances are dealt with will inevitably determine whether that power is frequently abused or mediated with at least some semblance of fairness and lawfulness.

Protestors Go Bananas at Leeds Tesco

26-02-2009 16:06

Banana flashmob at Leeds Tesco in protest of Tesco refusing to stock only Fairtrade bananas.

Climate Change is too important to be left to the polititians

21-02-2009 18:41

As the same tired responses and apparently ludicrous solutions keep on being advocated for climate change, I keep thinking, 'I'm just an amateur, what do I know? It may look wrong to me, but surely there's something those in power know that I don't'. I mean, they wouldn't carry on with these schemes and saying these untrue things otherwise, right? If I've got such a point in fields like medicine and architecture, whenever I dig deep I tend to find that yes, there is indeed some serious thing I was unaware of that disabuses me of my opinion.

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Nuked By Friend And Foe

21-02-2009 16:18

An unsentimental appraisal of our energy choices doesn’t boost your popularity. One of my favourite environmental writers, my friend Merrick Godhaven, is taking shots at me and Mark Lynas -

http://bristlingbadger.blogspot.com/2009/01/nuke-mark-lynas.html. It concerns that most divisive of green topics: nuclear power. Merrick argues that if you express even qualified support for new nukes, it takes the pressure off governments to invest in renewables and reduce energy consumption. He also exposes the contradictions in the positions Mark and I have taken over the years.

I’ll Get Arrested to Stop the Burning of Coal

21-02-2009 14:35

Coal is killing the planet. It’s as simple as that – so it’s easy to understand why 350.org founder Bill McKibben is willing to risk getting arrested in order to participate in a major act of civil disobedience at a coal-fired power plant next month.

nuke mark lynas

20-02-2009 22:53

Mark Lynas is a seriously well informed person. While many of us use broad phrases like 'climate change impact', he has very precise knowledge.

To show that climate change isn't something that's going to happen but is already here, he visited many parts of the world already affected, reporting it in the book High Tide: Notes From A Warming World.

As the global temperature is likely to rise up to six degrees this century, he wrote Six Degrees. Six chapters, each detailing the results of extensive research on what the next degree of warming is likely to cause.

He's also a prolific writer of articles, and has spoken out in favour of radical activists such as the Camp for Climate Action.

So it was surprising when, in May 2005, he came out as a convert to the idea of nuclear power using some questionable lines of thinking.

Capitalist Crisis: Introductory Reader - PDF here

20-02-2009 13:16

'GOOD TIMES! BAD TIMES!! An Introduction to the Capitalist Crisis and what it means for us'

FEATURES: Background to the Current Crisis and Recession / Reports on Crisis: England / What Recession Means for Us / Financialisation Primer / Analysis from Silvia Federici & George Caffentzis, Mario Tronti and Alain Badiou

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Stop LeedsBradford Airport Expansion

19-02-2009 21:40

Come and hear about thier plans to expand and discuss what we can do to stop it :)

Cold-hearted cops arrest grandfather for writing in the snow

18-02-2009 18:18

A retired oil refinery worker turned airport campaigner thought he'd take advantage of the recent snowfall to send a seasonal message to passengers departing Aberdeen airport. The local constabulary had other ideas and promptly arrested the 65-year-old and his 25-year-old accomplice for writing "Plane Stupid - you fly, they die" in diluted red ink on a snowy hilltop one-and-a-half miles from the airport.