UK Indymedia - UK Globalisation Newswire Archive

Don’t Drink from the Mainstream.

20-04-2008 10:06

Here’s the note pinned on the studio door of Undercurrents
To do list for 2008

1) Make 10 new video series on topics ranging from Woodland skills to Technology reviews and from Political news to investigative documentaries.

2) Develop a desktop video player application based upon the open source software.

3) Launch an Internet Protocol Television Station which builds an open mass medium of online television.

Ps: Do it all on a minuscule budget

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Hands Off Iraqi oil protest inside and outside BP AGM

19-04-2008 16:55

As 'corporate pirates' gave out shareholder briefings under the banner of 'BP in Iraq - Blatant Piracy' outside, a number of be-suited HOIO activists were present at the BP AGM inside...

For photos see www.handsoffiraqioil.org

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San Isidro. In their own words.

18-04-2008 14:26

Below is a translation of a document produced by the people of San Isidro Aloapam which explains in detail the history of the forest dispute. Also the corruption they have faced at every level. The picture below shows the injuries sustained by six of the villagers at the hands of the paramilitaries.

For details on how to show practical solidarity to those who have been beaten, tortured and imprisoned click here:

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/396331.html

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Privatising War: NATO contractor rearms Taleban

18-04-2008 10:17

AFP reports a "private helicopter company" hired by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has dropped ammunition , food and water into a Taleban held area in southern Afghanistan.

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Western Media Fabrications regarding the Tibet Riots

17-04-2008 23:00

The images of the violent riots in Lhasa, in which a criminal mob set fire to shops, homes and schools, burning several people alive, and stabbing innocent civilians with knives were not shown on network TV in the US and Western Europe. Small segments of the riots in Lhasa were shown out of context and with a view to accusing the Chinese authorities of repressing a "peaceful protest".

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No Action on Global Warming Expected in Paris

16-04-2008 19:45

As night falls across the US, the sun will rise in Paris, where the largest polluters in the world will address the problem of global warming cause by carbon emmisions.

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5th Peoples' Global Action Gathering in Europe – Athens 20th / 27th of August

16-04-2008 16:44

PGA - People's Global Action - started in 1998, it has been a tool and a diffuse structure coordinating groups and people sharing common struggles and practices, in accordance with various anticapitalist and anti-authoritarian principles (see the hallmarks)

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FLASHBACK: Philanthropic imperialism: the National Endowment for Democracy

16-04-2008 13:53

Democracy building becomes the cover for a policy goal that has always been surrounded by an enormous amount of deception. But we can identify a chain of command: organisations that were designed to engage in a duplicitous process of marketing philanthropic imperialism as democracy.

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Kings of the Nuclear Jungle

16-04-2008 01:06

Russia nuclear support designs, German technology applications, Eastern European productions, Iran contractor equipment smuggling, Iran bank money-laundering, Russia contacts in South Africa and Uganda arranging Congo black-market nuclear yellow-cake, uranium, cobalt, beryllium, and columbite-tantalum ( coltan ) smuggling to Kazakhstan metallurgy processing, delivering new Iran strategic war plans using individual Tactical Nuclear Terrorists ( TNT ).

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Israel's Architecture of Occupation

15-04-2008 15:10

Book review of Eyal Weizman's pioneering 2007 book "Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation"

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Amid mounting food crisis, governments fear revolution of the hungry

15-04-2008 14:18

Last week’s meetings in Washington of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Group of Seven were convened in the shadow of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. While Wall Street’s turmoil and the deepening credit crunch dominated discussions, leaders of the global financial institutions were forced to take note of the growing global food emergency, warning of the threat of widespread hunger and already emerging political instability.

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The Real Tibet?

14-04-2008 21:49

The students of Sheffield (mainly from Sheffield university gathered to voice their views and opinions on the recent China-Tibet discussions that are currently going on within the media.

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China and America: The Tibet Human Rights PsyOp

14-04-2008 10:03

The human rights issue has become the centerfold of media disinformation.

China is no model of human rights but neither are the US and its
indefectible British ally, responsible for extensive war crimes and human
rights violations in Iraq and around the World. The US and its allies, which
uphold the practice of torture, political assassinations and the
establishment of secret detention camps, continue to be presented to public
opinion as a model of Western democracy to be emulated by developing
countries, in contrast to Russia, Iran, North Korea and the People's
Republic of China.

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Lumber and Murder: Following The Paper Trail

13-04-2008 23:30

CIPO-RFM in Oaxaca have documented to date 517 detentions and tortured people, 103 police and paramilitary incursions into their communities, 81 prison orders, 229 penal, civil and commercial processes, 263 people assaulted, 37 death threats and 27 murders.

This article follows the money trail of those profiting from the lumber extraction in Oaxaca State.

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Images from San Isidro Aloapam + appeal for solidarity.

12-04-2008 15:34

The village of San Isidro Aloapam is situated high in the mountains about 3-4 hours drive from Oaxaca city. The journey used to be shorter, but a quicker access road through the mountains has been blocked by villagers, fearful that it could be used for hit and run missions by armed paramilitaries. Like many indigenous communities the village is largely ignored by the political mainstream outside of election campaigns. Mexico’s indigenous population is discriminated against in every aspect of life including jobs, education and healthcare. The village is represented politically by indigenous umbrella organisation CIPO-RFM. The main language spoken by the people is an ancient language called Zapatec; many of the older people in the community do not speak Spanish. The village has a few shops but no bar. Alcohol is frowned upon in communities represented by CIPO-RFM as it has caused huge problems in the indigenous population including murder and domestic violence. The village has its own radio station, which is a vital tool of communication for people living in the more remote areas. Many of the programmes are in Zapatec with traditional music also a regular feature. The radio station also enables communication with the outside world, which offers some protection against paramilitary attacks from the PRIistas.

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The ENCUENTRO held at San Isidro Aloapam.

12-04-2008 15:20

To raise awareness of the plight of the people of San Isidro Aloapam CIPO-RFM organised an international Encuetro or gathering attended by representatives of many different organisations including:

UK Indymedia, Earth First (USA), Earth First Roadblock (Canada), Ya Basta, Jóvenes en Resistencia Alternativa, UNIOS-COPAI, Movimiento por la Paz con justicia y dignidad, Colectivo Anarquista Acción Libertaria, Comité Popular Ciudadano-la otra campaña, la otra tabasco, Guaytalpa Nacajuca, pueblo Chontal, tabasco, Colectivo solidaridad con la Rebelión Zapatista, Barcelona, La olla móvil de Barcelona, kolectivo tod@s somos pres@s, Independientes; Mael Vizcarra Magallanes, Maria Elena Martínez, Gavioes Dafiel, TAIFA, REDMYCZ, Coordinadora Toscano de apoyo a la lucha zapatista, Florencia, Italia, C.C .AREA.(Italia), Periódico Apatía, ENHA D.F colectivo de la otra campaña, Individu@s (Oaxaca), Rafael Moreno González Madrid España, Colectivo de Resistencia Expresión Artística CREA (Oaxaca), Tlacoyos si hamburguesas no, Olga Durante Gómez de Barcelona, Brujula Roja, Red Zapatista, Colectivo de Resistencia Artística CREA, No Mas Muertes, Andres Contreras (compositor de música de protesta) and Askapena, País Vasco.

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Interview with Pedro Bautista Rojas of CIPO-RFM.

12-04-2008 15:11

Cipo-RFM activist Pedro Bautista-Rojas explains the history of the indigenous struggle in Oaxaca and also the implications of the forest dispute for both the people of San Isidro Aloapam and their children.

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Demetrio explains how the loggers manipulate the law.

12-04-2008 15:04

Demetrio takes us to a spot in the forest where the repression began. The ‘plague’ he refers to is a uncommon disease that afflicts trees in the forest and can destroy large areas if left unchecked. For this reason it is quite legal to cut down diseased trees in the protected areas to stop the spread of the disease. However the wood from such trees has little values compared to that of a healthy one. The loggers from San Miguel have clearly been using a small outbreak of the disease as an excuse to cut down healthy trees for profit. The first thing that struck us was how many clearly diseased trees were still standing while the stumps left behind by the lumberjacks showed no sign of any infection.

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Alcohol fuelled repression and torture committed by the paramilitaries in 2007

12-04-2008 14:52

One thing that struck us about the accounts given to us by the villagers of the repression in 2007 was that there were no inconsistencies. Every interview and statement given by the villagers backed up what we had previously heard. It is very clear that the authorities who have imprisoned five of the villagers have not bothered to hear their side of the story. In a region where money can buy anything including the law this is hardly surprising. The accounts of torture that took place in the Police station in the town of San Miguel are truly horrifying.

Another thing we noticed in this part of the forest was that all the ‘diseased’(this is an excuse to get round the law) trees that had been cut down by the loggers of San Miguel had three things in common. Firstly they were all very large. Secondly they were all placed right by the track thus minimising the time and cost of transporting them out of the forest. Thirdly the stumps displayed no signs of disease at all.

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The legality of illegal logging.

12-04-2008 14:43

The companero pictured below talks not only of the legal battle to secure the future of the forest but also about the corruption they are fighting at the highest level. It seems more than probable that someone in the local municipal environmental offices is being paid a backhander by the loggers to break the laws that he or she is paid to uphold. Another fear the villagers have which seems well founded is that the tree disease (which the loggers use as an excuse for their activity) was deliberately introduced into the forest. It certainly seems convenient for the loggers that a previously healthy area of woodland has suddenly suffered an unexpected blight, which has given a green light to their activities.