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UK Social Struggles Newswire Archive

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Unionists’ Murder Followed by Marches and Arrests in Anzoategui, Venezuel

07-02-2009 16:23

Following the murder of two workers at a Mitsubishi plant, marches and meetings have involved more of the regional community in the union struggle, while six police have been arrested, and a range of commissions have been established.

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We need a crusade of popular social democracy

07-02-2009 16:15

My Lords, I, too, congratulate my dear and noble friend Lord Eatwell on initiating this debate and I also congratulate him on his speech. I start, as he did, with a quote.

"From time to time in human history there occur events of a truly seismic significance, events that mark a turning point between one epoch and the next, when one orthodoxy is overthrown and another takes its place ... There is a sense that we are now living through just such a time: barely a decade into the new millennium, barely 20 years since the end of the Cold War and barely 30 years since the triumph of neo-liberalism-that particular brand of free-market fundamentalism, extreme capitalism and excessive greed which became the economic orthodoxy of our time ... The global crisis ... has called into question the prevailing neo-liberal economic orthodoxy of the past 30 years-the orthodoxy that has underpinned the national and global regulatory frameworks that have so spectacularly failed to prevent the economic mayhem which has now been visited upon us".

Those words, said in the past week, came from a Labour Prime Minister-not ours, I regret, but Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister.

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"We're sorry" - false claims re police agent provocateur

07-02-2009 16:08

Back in June 2008, indymedia reported on claims by George Galloway that a police inspector had been seen in civilian clothes at an anti-war demonstration in Parliament Square inciting people to violence against the police lines. Much doubt was expressed as to whether Galloway could be seen as a reliable witness to these events and raised the question as to whether he'd find himself being sued for libel. ( http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/401962.html?c=on#comments)

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Direct Action; Mexico, USA & Uruguay

07-02-2009 16:02

FULL COMMUNIQUE RELEASED FROM ELF ACTION AT UNIVERSITY (Mexico)
5th-7th February

RIOT AT BULLRING (Mexico)
SPECTATORS, POLICE ATTACKED DURING BULLFIGHTING CELEBRATION (Mexico)
UCLA VAN PAINT-STRIPPED (USA)
BAYER (HLS CUSTOMER) PAINTED IN SOLIDARITY WITH IMPRISONED ACTIVISTS (Uruguay)
SHOPS GRAFFITIED (Mexico)
FULL COMMUNIQUE RELEASED FROM ELF ACTION AT UNIVERSITY (Mexico)

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Starbucks Settles ULP Charges Over Firing At Michigan Store, But Union Refuses t

07-02-2009 13:09

A National Labor Relations Board regional director in Detroit Jan. 16 approved a settlement agreement with Starbucks Corp. resolving allegations of unfair labor practices by the Starbucks Workers Union (SWU), an affiliate of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), filed with NLRB Region 7 (Starbucks Corp. d/b/a Starbucks Coffee Co., N.L.R.B. Reg. Dir., No. 7-CA-51190, settlement approved 1/16/09).

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Press for Change Urge Support for ID Cards

07-02-2009 12:16

The following email is so out of context with the issues we face as trans people, ID Cards won't buy our gender recognition, next 'Gender Spectrum' will be implying that CCTV actually protects us from violence, the ID Card system (like the DNA database) is an utter disgrace on our privacy and civil liberty, they should know better!

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Public Action Against Judicial Corruption & Institutional Failures in the UK

07-02-2009 08:36

Demonstration Against Judicial Corruption, Unlawful Imprisonments, Convention Rights Abuses and Institutional Failures in the UK; Every Saturday outside HMP Wormwood Scubs, Du Cane Road, London W12 0AE.

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Petrol bombs at PASOK HQ in Athens! 2 month anniversary of the murder of Alexi!

07-02-2009 00:42

At 11pm UK time, (2? explosions) ,(40?) anti-authoritarians threw (50?) petrol bombs at the HQ of the main 'socialist' party in Greece, PASOK. Perhaps they deliberately sought BBQ pork because apparently 6-8 piggies got caught in the crossfire. It was short and sweet, and one minute later the police retaliated with one lone tear gas grenade (according to reports on athens.indymedia.org)

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Retro Bigotry

07-02-2009 00:22

The advertising firm RKCR have recently devised a campaign entitled ‘still red hot’ to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Virgin Atlantic’s 1984 launch. RKCR attempt to invoke the spirit of 1984 by depicting news paper headlines of the miners strike. The value and position of everyday working women is completely reduced in the ad to providing men with sexual titillation. RKCR and Virgin will claim that this is all in jest and if you don’t get the ‘joke’ you’re a part of the P.C. gone mad brigade. What is truly disrespectful here is how painful this advertisement could be for the existing Virgin Atlantic steward workforce who have not only have had their occupation so reduced by their superiors but who will now be inevitably (sized up by passengers) and compared to these deplorable representations. And as if that isn’t enough, RKCR have received advertising contracts from the Home Offices for their anti Prostitution, Domestic Violence, Child Protection on the Internet and
Anti Rape campaigns as well for Oxfam! Just what the RKCR add for workplace harassment would be like makes the mind boggle.

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Climate Camp hits the City of London on April Fools Day!

06-02-2009 17:09

Climate Camp hits the City of London on April Fools Day, the eve of the G20 leaders' London Summit. Join us!

Climate camp 2009 /// Stopping carbon markets /// Because nature doesn't do bailouts.

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Obama v. Cognitive Bias

06-02-2009 12:11

A study was recently published "showing that a performance gap between African-Americans and whites on a 20-question test administered before Mr. Obama’s nomination all but disappeared when the exam was administered after his acceptance speech and again after the presidential election." Earlier researchers had "assembled university students with identical SAT scores and administered tests to them, discovering that blacks performed significantly poorer when asked at the start to fill out a form identifying themselves by race. The researchers attributed those results to anxiety that caused them to tighten up during exams in which they risked confirming a racial stereotype."

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Around the Campaigns Friday 6th February 2009

06-02-2009 11:38

Leila, Soorena and Danoushm, on plane, off plane, back in Yarl's Wood
I can't believe what I'm writing here, but at 25 to six, twenty minutes after the plane should have gone, I had a phone call from Sourena on his phone. I couldn't hear a word he was saying, so asked if I could speak to someone with him. An officer said they were being removed from the plane and taken back to Yarl's Wood, and that's where they are today.

Having just spoken to Leila’s legal representative this morning he says the Home Office are ‘livid’ at what happened and want the flight rescheduling asap. It’s all still hanging on a thread…. He has spoken to Sourena. Evidently, all three of them were separated either in transit, for the flight or both, we are not sure – including 18 month old Sourena being separated from his mother! That is absolutely outrageous! Danoushm is still traumatized this morning, we hear. Sourena has scratches on his face. This is completely inhumane! Thanks to all who faxed/phoned on family's behalf.
Phil Townend
Leila, Soorena and Danoushm belong to Halifax
 http://www.ncadc.org.uk/Newszine103/Leila.html

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Tax Payers Alliance - helping the rich on your behalf

06-02-2009 09:58

When the Tax Payers Alliance refuse to condemn tax dodging by rich people and corporations, they're acting in the interests of the super-rich. This is strange since, it is because the wealthy dodge tax that ordinary taxpayers have to pay more taxes than they otherwise would do.

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Books Not Bombs: A Rally for Gaza

06-02-2009 08:04

On Friday the 6th of February 2009 at 2:30pm, University of Nottingham students and academics as well as members of the local community will come together and urge the University administration to re-focus its connections to the Israel and Palestine conflict.

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Dave Gardner, Left-Wing and Animal Rights 'Activist', Exposed as BNP Member!

05-02-2009 23:41

Dave Gardner BNP member
Dave (David) Gardner is known to many involved in both animal rights and left-wing struggles in the West Midlands. What is less well known is his history of far-right activism, a past he has recently returned to.

Formerly a member of the fascist organisation the National Front, at the start of the decade, he endeavoured to integrate himself with assorted left, liberal and animal rights groups.

His attempts to get involved with militants of AFA were quickly rebuked. From here he got involved with varying success in groups as wide ranging as the anarchist influenced S26 collective to the SWP, Birmingham Friends of the Earth Building to assorted animal rights grouplets.

Repeatedly anti-fascist militants raised his past antics and refusal to pass on any information re: his supposedly ex-mates. Repeatedly they were ignored.

Now there can be NO DOUBT over where Mr Gardner's allegiances lie.

First he was snapped on the BNP demonstration in support of sacked BNP teacher Adam Walker, fratenising with longterm BNP activists, leafletting and generally being a fascist fucker!
(see photos below)

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Environmentalist Sentenced to 21 years as a "Terrorist"

05-02-2009 21:38

Marie Mason - Sentenced to 21 Years
Environmentalist Sentenced to 21 Years as a “Terrorist”; Violent Racists Receive Half That
By Will Potter

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Change the Lobby

05-02-2009 21:12

One cannot emphasize enough the stranglehold Israel's lobbying infrastructure has on US foreign policy. The events of recent weeks undoubtedly attest to this. 'The special relationship' that has been historically fostered between the US and Israel in fact, is often a relationship of leverage, manipulation and intimidation, and often leads to the US supporting actions or resolutions that stand at complete odds with the interests of the American people.

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Staythorpe walkout

05-02-2009 20:38

Construction workers at the site of a new gas fired power station at Staythorpe near Newark, Nottinghamshire have joined workers across the country in striking against the use of foreign contractors. While the issue has been contentious for some time, with a unemployed workers holding protests outside the site since November. The issue was reignigted after workers at the Total oil refinery at Lindsey in Lincolnshire walked out over similar concerns.

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A Life On The Run

05-02-2009 20:13

New book describes young man's flight from war torn Africa. His hopelessness, refugee camps and eventual escape to the West.

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Another View from Malta...Re Boat people, refugees, illegal Emigrants

05-02-2009 18:46

Another View from Malta...Re Boat people, refugees, illegal Emigrants.