IS IT COLD OUTSIDE?

I don't really join in the Climate Change debate that much here, being a bit more War on terr-r based over the years but I do try and take an open minded interest in all sides and try to get my head round it all. I used to argue against climate change "Deniers" over on Sparkles blog. I felt quite justified just cos the US is a major polluter in anyone's book. I have never held a fully formed belief about the validity of the science, though I must admit I am wavering a bit. My point has always been a simple one- there are no pro pollution arguments. Its a good idea to reduce pollution.

I like going to Climate Camp, I like to experiment with ways of using less energy. I try not to drive if I can cycle or take public transport. If I get a van next year I will try to run it on waste vegetable oil. I am fairly anti-consumerism, I'm not really pro Capitalism in its current form.

Anyway do read Patrick James Henningsen's blog from Copenhagen: Copenhagen’s Climate Change Titanic Heading for An Iceberg which has become an item of debate over at Sparkles place here.

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ASWAT

..."A trial could be properly and fairly conducted without a breach of the defendant's ... rights," Judge Timothy Workman said in his ruling at Bow Street magistrates court.

The home secretary, Charles Clarke, now has two months to approve the extradition.

Defence lawyers argued that Mr Aswat should not be extradited becauses he faced an "overwhelming risk" of being held in solitary confinement without trial and cut off from his friends, family and legal representatives.

Mr Aswat did not comment as he watched the ruling from the back of the courtroom under police guard...

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PHONE IS CLICKING

I don't get this

A plan to allow phone tap evidence in courts was left in tatters today as a review said it was unworkable.

In a victory for MI5, Gordon Brown's proposal to introduce intercept evidence at criminal trials was quietly shelved as a report said it would cost billions. Critics said the decision marked another creeping extension of the Government's secret justice agenda.

It means that potentially important information gained via phone tap recordings and email interceptions will not be available to juries.


Surely if someone implicates themselves over the phone the bloody jury should hear about it. Why on earth not?

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More Squatters

Dobbins vs professor David Nutt

Its up finally!

PUT THESE IN THE RIGHT ORDER

Time Out put out a list of 50 greatest Animated Films and everyone gets annoyed in the comments. I thought the list was pretty crap myself, but it was nice to see Southpark well up there, cos it is a true epic in scale. Beavis and Butthead do America is pretty shit hot too. The film at no 50 (Heavy Metal- The Movie) I have been trying to get hold of for ages. I was pleased, and surprised to see Fern Gully on the list, which has some really bad 80s music but epic performances from Robin Williams and Tim Curry, with Tim Curry's big song, Toxic Love up there with anything from Fantastia or Dumbo in terms of psychedelia.



My top Animated films?

1. Ratatouille- One of the best films ever made in my opinion- period. If I told you how many times I have seen it I would be embarassed.
2. South park: Bigger, longer Uncut
3. Hunchback of Notre Dame- A surprisingly subversive tale slips out of Disney as they do sometimes, the first scene where the hunchback baby is held over the well was genuinely scary, and the whole story about the evil Churchman being after the free living gypsies was unmistakably Battle of the Beanfield in flavour.
4. 1o1 Dalmations- Again, surprisingly scary- You 'it 'em, I'll skin em! and beautifully sketchy in drawing.
5. Wall- E- prooving the art of animation is still as much of a spiritual quest as it ever has been.
6. Fern Gully
7. Lord of the Rings (Ralph Bakshi 1978) A very artistic rescue of a live action attempt
8. Toy Story
9. America- World Police (Do puppets count?)
10. A toss up between Roger Rabbit and Jurrasic park I reckon. What do you think?

also rans- Beavis and Butthead, Waltz with Bashir, Fantasia, Dumbo etc etc etc I could watch animated films over and over.

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POLICE STOCKTAKING

From Alex Thompsons Snowmail earlier:

POLICE, PUT THE KETTLE OFF?

Is it the end for our cops using their batons against protesters? Possibly so, for two reasons. First, they've been told to lay off the likes of climate change and G20 demonstrators by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Denis O'Connor.

He says in a report that officers risk losing public support if they're seen as aggressive and unfair. Second, the female senior officer put in charge of recent climate demos showed herself to be adept at keeping public order and allowing protests.

She deserves more recognition and we'd like to ask her tonight how she succeeded - but the police won't let her come on.

Curiously the key contentious issue of "kettling" - coralling crowds for hours on end and not letting them disperse until they are utterly bored and exhausted - is not overtly touched upon in this investigation. Odd, because that's the issue which has aroused more debate than probably any other aspect of street disorder policing.

Police methods ‘could erode public support’: http://bit.ly/5qyzOY

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

I went through a phase of consuming everything on Youtube about the Balkan confict. There is a lot of Russian pro-Serb stuff about Kosovo which I took to be the propaganda of Allies. Thanks to Madam Miaow I have read another perspective from John Pilger, which makes NATO out to be the war criminals this time, which is pretty much what the Russian stuff I saw was saying.

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Behind The Scenes

Fascinating reporting from behind the scenes in The Telegraph today and The Daily Mail a while ago, which I missed at the time. In The Telegraph Andrew Gilligan details the conflicts between the British and American top brass in Iraq, whilst in the Daily Mail Craig Murray details the path 2007s bumper crop of smack took into Europe.

Hostility between British and American military leaders revealed
Britain is protecting the biggest heroin crop of all time

Also from India, Mumbai terrorist Kasab in his own words
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WOW

MUSA ON TV

He said a lot more than this, and spoke mainly to say that in his opinion, The Quilliam Foundation don't know what they are talking about. I noticed he said

"I have done my time and got out"

when he should have said

"I was held for nine months and found not guilty"!

There has been a bit of press recently about the taps in Hamza's cell and Hamza preaching through the plug hole. Musa reckons this is just prison guards making money out of outlandish stories and he thinks that the drains from the prison within a prison where Hamza is held go in the other direction anyway.

Some of the press goes into much more detail about Fatwahs from Abu Qatada appearing in the Arabic press. One article even elaborates on some sort of code developed by Qatada, Hamza and Abu Doha. I remember a recording of Hamza smuggled out of jail one time reported in the papers. I cant find it online but it sounded genuine. I don't remember that it encouraged terrorism, unless it did so in code of course.

The Prison Service insisted: “There is no proof this recording was made by Hamza and no evidence it was made in prison.”

One report says

...The Ministry of Justice said it had not seen Quilliam's report. The ministry said it was unfortunate Quilliam had not interviewed prison staff as part of its research...

I think Musa, like a lot of Muslims thinks that Quilliam are just trying to justify their budget.

He said the said that the CNN interview was a few minutes out of half an hour, but he wasn't that unhappy with how it came out. I can see that he is on a mission to ready the world for a rehabilitated Atilla, which I think is a good thing. I am not sure that the authorities are ready for the idea at all. I am pretty sure he wont be able to do any media which pretty much fucks up my filming ideas but that is not necessarily a bad thing. He probably could do with being plugged back into family life rather than the oxygen of any more publicity. I am not sure how much more I can say, but I am hoping Musa will drop round and do some more Malung TV soon.

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NO SHIT SHERLOCK

So that was why I kept getting calls from every other fuckin mobile phone provider offering me shit I didn't want. What a surprise. Talk about stating the bleedin obvious. I actually got a call from T-moblie offering me discounts or whatever. I was so pleased it was them and not Orange or whoever, I answered "Yes! Yes! tell me!"

"I can't hear you, can you stop shouting?" came the reply.

"Tell me! Tell me about these amazing offers!"

"Sorry I think this is a bad line."

They hung up.

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TEN GRAMS A DAY

'Delusional' warning over club drug

Heavy use of the dance drug Ketamine causes memory loss and can make users "delusional", according to researchers. Users became "dissociated" in their day-to-day lives and struggled to remember names and conversations. Researchers at University College London, also linked the drug - which is known as "Special K" - to depressive symptoms.

During the trial, two out of the group of 30 heavy users, who were taking up to 10g a day, died in ketamine-related accidents. The study said: "This renders them very vulnerable to physical dangers, such as drowning or crossing busy roads without checking for traffic. High doses of the drug, which is used by vets to tranquillise horses, leave users "completely unresponsive" to things going on around them, the scientists said...

Right. My guess would be that anyone doing ten bloody grams a day is doing what I call "English Ketamine". Stuff which has been powdered a long time ago and only has a very mild ketamine like effect, hence having to do ten grams. The only people I have met in this country who take stupid amounts of K don't even know what the real effect of freshly evaporated K is. They are delusional.

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ART

There is an exhibition of the work of Paul Day at Plus One Gallery (plusonegallery.com or click on image for more of Paul Days work)

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LINKAGE

Was just chatting with some of these people on facebook. Lots of fascinating stuff which I am bookmarking for myself to read as much as anyone else!

Firstly Nadene Ghouri's account of being under fire whilst trying to teach journalists in Swat,
her PBS reports about the Afghan Police, and in the Guardian here.

Also Connor Foley's Afghan stories about rebuilding Afghan pride, the work of Rory Stewart, Aid problems in Afghanistan, and UN peacekeeping.

I've read most of this, and will catch up with the rest when I have more time.

The most depressing thing I heard in this conversation was that the Taliban were in the Kallash valleys. I've written a bit here about my experiences with them, and how they were culturaly suppressed by the dominant Muslim culture over there when I found them in 2000. Under the Taliban this could only be worse. It's really sick to imagine war in a place so beautiful. I'm really worried.

also on Yahoo news- an article about American wounded
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AND NOW FOR SOME MUSIC

Dobbins Revenge on David Nutt

This is the story of the fall of a once proud stallion- all because of the vicious lies of one PROFESSOR NUTT who claimed that horse riding was more dangerous than ecstasy. The guy talking to Dobbins said he "was allowed to ask him to leave" as he was organising the protest. Dobbins later told us that he thought that was legally dubious but he danced away from the guy just in case he became dangerous.

He wasn't that fazed though, saying

"I've met much more serious nutters than him on the dance floor!"

BBC,The Sun (who owe me money)...

Support Professor Nutt Facebook page

Students for Sensible Drugs Policy

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Tell us what you really think...

'Autistic Tories have castrated UK in Europe'

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HIP HOP REPUBLICANS

This is a Republican attempt to recruit Black voters
via Rightwingsparkle here

Domestic Extremism

I DON'T BELIEVE IT

The government being brought low over the truth about drugs being brought to them by a "Professor Nutt"? I thought I had been smoking. Wierdest thing is the Daily Mail website- complete with comments supporting the Prof going up, and comments against him (in favour of the Home Secretary) going down. What the fuck is happening?

"Politicians think that they know the facts but scientists know the facts."

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MORE JENVEY

Glen Jenvey says he was faking being a Muslim for a book.

ATILLA IN THE NEWS

A jailed hate preacher has begged to be deported when he is freed - to sever all ties with his old extremist pals.

Atilla Ahmet, 45, says he now shuns terror, despite once hailing the 7/7 blasts and urging the Taliban to bomb Britain. The cleric, an ex-minder of hookhanded Abu Hamza, has asked the Home Office to scrap his UK citizenship and send him to Turkish Cyprus, his parents' country. He is serving seven years for soliciting murder but says he is "deeply ashamed" of his past and has apologised to terror victims.

Brother Musa said: "Atilla doesn't mix with extremists any more and wants to go to Cyprus and keep his head down. He's sorry about what he did and things he said.

"He has a spotless record in jail but fears that the authorities will put him back inside as soon as he is freed."

The dad-of-four, an ex-bouncer and soccer coach, was jailed in March last year. He is likely to be freed from Woodhill jail, Bucks, in February - halfway through his term, including time on remand.

In 2005, a Mirror probe caught Ahmet, of Hither Green, South East London, sneering at "filthy unbelievers" and calling the UK "the front line". He later called 9/11 a "deserved punch on the nose".

He was a key figure in a terror recruitment cell and urged Muslims to commit atrocities.

He was seized in 2006 and admitted three charges.



Also: Freed terror fanatics should be treated 'nicely' says leaked papers

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READY FOR A RIOT

Do watch Channel 4s Dispatches program about public order training in the wake of Tomlinson and the G20. I thought it was a very good programme. I have written a lot about my feelings towards all this, if you have missed my great wisdom click the police tag below.

There are some good blog reviews at
The Tone of Our Oppression
Random Blowe
Ramblings of a Scottish Student
and Paul Lewis in the Guardian

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TUBESPACE

I PWOTEST

There is a bit of a hoo har about todays Guardian front page which has pictures from Police "Spotter cards" of activists who were well known in 2005. This is old news which I can't take too seriously.

These guys used to take pictures of me, which I have been a bit indignant about here on occasion but I am not really too bothered. I can totally justify everything I am doing, it is all within the law and with the intentions of making the world a better more informed place, so if "intelligence" people in uniform who exhibit limited intelligence want to behave like paparazzi, you know, fuck them. I don't care.

I know a couple of the people on this card. They aren't violent or dangerous, they are quite principled though. Someone on facebook was saying they were annoyed about The Guardian printing their photographs. She got this letter back:

We're sorry that you have a concern about our publication of the police spotter card today. We did consider all the issues very carefully before deciding it was the correct thing to do. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and that feedback from people whose faces appeared on the front-page, but this email is adderssed to people who have questioned the decision.

We made it clear that no-one pictured on this card had done anything amiss other than attend demonstrations, which is their right.

It is extremely important to be able to show the general public just what the police are doing by way of stigmatising demonstrators.

These are all pictures of people who have decided to attend public demonstrations, precisely in order to make public their own political views. They are therefore people who have voluntarily gone into the public arena to engage in political action.

Naturally, we don't want anyone to suffer any detriment for their beliefs. We believe that many of the people on that card will be pleased to have now contributed towards exposing and helping stop this kind of police behaviour. They will not primarily have been thinking of themselves, but of the benefit to the causes they believe in.

It is important to bear in mind that no-one personally asked us to black out their faces beforehand, although we circulated our plans to those members of the protest community we could find. A few people claimed that unidentified third parties might object, which is not a basis on which we could proceed.

The other important factor is that the faces on this card have already been published in the media before. They were shown in detailed close-up in the film 'Taking Liberties', which was distributed in cinemas and is available to buy as a DVD. The makers of the film describe the film as a "surprise box office hit". As many will be aware, one of the people on the screen holds up the "spotter card" to the camera and there is a clear view of everybody on it.

http://www.noliberties.com/index.htm

http://www.noliberties.com/release.htm

Most if not all the people on this card would have been well aware of that.

Some on the card say there was some sort of agreement that we would not publish the "spotter card" unless there was permission from all of you and failing that, we would blur some of the images.

Some background - we have carrying out research for this series since June. A few months ago, there was an idea that we should try to contact all the people on the card and interview them. At that time, the idea was to print some biographies of the individuals on the card to draw out various points - such as - the obviously important issue of how many people had criminal records. As it turned out, seven people on the card called me. It was clear that we were not going to be able speak to all on the card. As the project evolved, we abandoned the idea. During that process, we spoke to people on the card on the understanding that we would not name people if they did not want to be. As it turned out, we did not name anyone on the card, except Mark Thomas who wrote a comment piece about the card - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/oct/25/doth-i-protest-too-much

It should be clear from the general thrust of the articles that we are looking to highlight the wrong-doing of the police, not the protesters. The publication of the card helps to tell many in the wider public what is actually going on here. Many in the protest community have complained that the mainstream media have ignored what the police have been doing. We hope that you will recognise that the Guardian has in the past year published a series of articles which have helped to expose police wrong-doing. The articles on Ian Tomlinson and the treatment of protesters at Kingsnorth are two examples of these.

We recognise that some of you are upset but we hope that you will have a better understanding of why we published the card.

Yours,
Rob Evans
Paul Lewis
Reporters,.
The Guardian

UPDATE: Hoo-Har here

UPDATE: Suspect "A"

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RACE AND RELIGION

If I meditate enough to get on this boat and see you in the water struggling I will run round looking for life belts I promise.

I can't get into this big deal about Nick Griffin on Question Time. The only sane journalism I've seen about the whole thing was in The Telegraph. I don't have a TV. I'll watch it later but I'm sure it will be a total let down for all these people getting so excited about it. A new friend of mine over on Facebook who grew up in Dundee, a refugee from Chile said

“Well if the Labour party abandon the working classes what do they expect?”

Corruption has let in extremes but are they a threat or serious contenders when it comes to power? I have never seen the point of banning people. Get Mr Griffin in. Get Mr Choudharry in. What is the problem? Do you think all these power dressing chicks in the West End are going to run out and buy Burkahs? I don't think so. x amount of Muslims believe in a world wide Islamic state. They do. x amount of pasty honkies on council estates want a white Britain. They do. That's not news.

Mind you, it was news on Panorama earlier in the week. Very interesting news but I am still unsure as to the conclusion, x amount = more than Trevor Phillips can see from his ivory tower? I wouldn't be surprised. The guy is blatantly an idiot in the wrong job, but still- the undercover journalists were being constantly hassled by the same small group of people, and there were white people on the same estate who looked out for them, and really stood out as heroes in this film. Both journalists said that they hadn't experienced this sort of racism before, so that must be a good thing right? Anyway very brave journalism which made for a seriously watchable programme.

In other news, we were watching a coupla Jesus reruns the other day back to back as someone had put out dvds of Jesus Christ Superstar (The 1973 version) and The Last Temptation of Christ which I hadn't watched before. I must admit that once I had stopped laughing I thought JCSS was actually quite good musically, and the message was OK too. I didn't realise there were so many blokes in the seventies who could hit such high notes. Must have been the tight trousers. I was thinking Ian Gillan all the way through listening to the Jesus rendition but I was still surprised to find he sang the part on the original album. I think this guy does a better job though.

Both of these films rightly point to the Judas part of the story as something questionable, though The Last Temptation is rubbish. I only watched it because someone told me that the reason it was blasphemous was cos Jesus gets a blow job on the cross at the end.

What a stupid story. Jesus feels guilty because he is the only Jewish person who will make crosses for the Romans? Err... Great start! Mary Magdelene blames him for the fact that she became a prostitute after he dumped her or something? err.. OK. Where are we going with this?

Jesus, played by Danile DeFoe (who is a shite actor at the best of times) questions whether he is the messiah or not. He asks John the Baptist, a head banging cult leader who gives him a big gay kiss on the lips to make sure. After this he heads off into the desert and does some Crowley ritual, gets tempted by the devil (who appears as a snake, a lion, a tree and a flame) comes back and starts with some really bland parables. The crowd quite rightly think his parables are lame and tell him to fuck himself.

Judas is this no nonsense character who tries to keep this self doubting nutter-Jesus on the right path. He isn't into the idea of crucifixion at first, he'd rather over throw the Roman occupation, but fuck it- as its you Jesus and you asked so nicely.

Just as Jesus finally makes it up on to the cross a little girl walks through the crowd, takes his nails out and helps him down.

“Am I the messiah?” he asks.

“No. Now stop torturing yourself and try to be normal for fucks sake”.

So Jesus is normal, he has a family with a woman. He has a family with her sister too. The angelchild hangs around just in case he backslides into his previous self torturing ways. Eventually Paul turns up in his town and tells the story of Christ crucified. This obviously offends Jesus as he knows the real story. Paul, runs after him and says the crowd prefer his fiction, reality isn't important. All the time I am sitting thinking

"Why the fuck did anyone write this story? Will it have any meaning whatsoever at the end?"

Anyway, Jesus on his deathbed which coincides with the Romans burning Jerusalem gets visited by his elderly disciples who out his angel as one of the devils who tempted him earlier (The flame one). He crawls out of the house, begs God to rewind time and put him back on the cross, which God does, making Jesus happy. And this film was nominated for awards. It won awards. What a load of wank. Its not blasphemy, its bollocks- and no blow job on the cross for Jesus either.

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Moderates and Extremists

Ed Husain of the Quilliam Foundation argues that the government's Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) strategy, also known as Prevent, should target Muslims he describes as Islamists whether or not they are suspected of terrorism or violent extremism because, he says, they are extremists and "provide the mood music" for the 7/7 bombers and others who threaten the British public with violence.

Although there is no credible evidence to support this view it is one that Husain shares with influential thinktanks including Policy Exchange and the Centre for Social Cohesion in the UK and Daniel Pipes' Middle East Forum in the US. On this account, regular Cif bloggers Inayat Bunglawala and Anas Altikriti are described as "extremists" and "subversives" who should be targeted and stigmatised in the same way as terrorists inspired or directed by al-Qaida.

Charles Moore and Dean Godson of Policy Exchange, have explained that this is a re-make of a 1980s Thatcherite counter-subversion strategy in which Husain is cast in the role of Frank Chapple the "moderate" trade union leader who was, they suggest, used to discredit and undermine the "extremist" miner's trade union leader Arthur Scargill. Husain, they argue, can help defeat Altikriti, Bungalwala and their colleagues in the same way...

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ABC NEWS

INFORMATION

A very interesting account of the G20/Tomlinson affair

..

People Using Guns in America

The barren rangeland, suggestive of Afghanistan, was to become an Islamic fighter training base.

Kassir expected to be welcomed by Muslim recruits, eager to learn the ways of war.

Instead, he got an Islamic leader from Seattle, a mentally impaired 18-year-old and two women more interested in canning jars than jihad.

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MUTATE

http://www.mutatebritain.wordpress.com/

EDL MANCHESTER

Jason Parkinsons filming from Manchester

DAYLIGHT

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said today the Obama administration was reassessing the relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaida, but denied any change of strategy on Afghanistan had occurrred.

Clinton's comments came after reports that the president's security advisers were pressing him to shift the focus of the war from the Taliban in Afghanistan to al-Qaida in Pakistan. The Taliban issued a statement last week claiming they posed no international threat, in an apparent attempt to put daylight between themselves and al-Qaida...

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English Defence Youth

I missed this. English Defence League address charges of racism and burn a swastika.

UPDATE: BBC News from Manchester

YOU ARE HAVING A GIRAFFE

The announcement drew gasps of surprise and cries of too much, too soon. Yet President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday because the judges found his promise of disarmament and diplomacy too good to ignore...

NASA: Moon bombing provides 'the data we need'

THE FUTURE

Taliban announces that it poses no international threat

Barack Obama 'sees role for Taliban in Afghanistan's future'

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POSH SQUAT

More West End Squatters

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One in four is Muslim

A report from an American think-tank has estimated 1.57 billion Muslims populate the world - with 60% in Asia.

The report, by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, took three years to compile, with census data from 232 countries and territories...

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ONE FOOT IN THE GROVE

Opens: 9.10.2009 – Ends: 25.10.2009

Location: 3-6 Acklam Rd, London, W10 5YU MAP

Entrance: £1 before 6pm – £3 thereafter

A 15000 square foot open air exhibition of Street Art, giant Sculpture and Installations, fully licensed for 1250 people, underneath the West Way Road Bridge next to Portobello Road, Ladbroke Grove, London.

Following the success of their debut show ‘Behind the Shutters’ at the infamous Cordy House, the Mutate Britain team are pleased to announce One Foot in the Grove, an exhibition of painting and sculpture located in the heart of West London on the Portobello Road.

THE FUTURE

I'm not sure if this was written by Paula Newton, who once called Atilla "A seriously scary guy" or Andrew Carey who I met up with once a while back but I think the title of this CNN blog post about McChrystals visit to London sums up the troubles of Afghanistan, and of maintaining the focus of American action there- No bumper sticker slogan will solve it

...Our manner of operating distances us physically and psychologically from the people we seek to protect. You need to connect with people,” says McChrystal adding, “We’ve under resourced our operations, in some areas we’ve underperformed, in some areas we’ve under-coordinated. We’ve struggled with unity of effort, national agreements, chains of command that are complex to say the least.”

What he did not admit so openly is that any more engagement with the Afghan people will inevitably lead to more military and civilian casualties in the short term.

But General McChrystal did begin articulating a new mission statement for Afghanistan. He said winning there doesn’t mean beating the Taliban but making the Afghan people safe and secure.

And he divulged two other things that commanders rarely say publicly: We can’t debate a new strategy forever, three months tops, and reconciliation with the Taliban is inevitable...



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UFO SUMMONING SCHOOL

Summon UFOs. Film them.

"Yahweh Institute Of UFO Summoning" is dedicated to teaching people of all races how to summon or call down UFO’s and spaceships and film them. Our summoning method is based on praying to and worshipping only YAHWEH, the Creator all things, and keeping His commandments, laws, statutes, morals, principles, rules, and teachings.

Sightings are appearing to people who do not worship YAHWEH, especially those who have video camcorders. But, our summons method dramatically increases the frequency of sightings appearing because it is dedicated to the glorification and uplifting of the Creator YAHWEH as He who answers our prayer requests for sightings to be sent for us to see and film.

ALONE

I bought the Suday Times but only got round to reading this today. A Sunday times journalist has spent time talking to grieving families all over the country.

...During his time in Afghanistan, part of Hale’s duties included the so-called TRM-ing of soldiers who had been in fierce firefights with the Taliban or who were showing signs of stress after tense patrols in which colleagues might routinely be blown up or shot.

TRM-ing, or trauma risk and management, is a fairly new concept and Hale was at the forefront of the army’s efforts to identify those at risk of post-traumatic stress before it is too late. “Mark would talk to the guys after firefights . . . He’d say, ‘it’s okay to feel this’, or ‘it’s okay to feel that’. If boys have seen friends shot, sometimes they dirty themselves and he’d have to impress on the others that you can’t take the mickey out of someone in that situation. It happens and it’s okay. And it’s okay to cry too.”

Did Hale need TRM-ing himself? Brenda had been distressed at the news that he was being posted to Afghanistan and never quite got over the nagging feeling that something awful would happen: “He’d done the Falklands, he’d done Iraq, he’d done Bosnia and Kosovo . . . I’d never had that feeling before but suddenly I just thought: you can’t keep going to these places. I said to him last summer, ‘One day your luck’s going to run out’.” ...

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NO ONE IS INNOCENT

Judge’s Ruling Confirms Innocent Gitmo Detainee Tortured To Make False Confessions

...shortly after his arrival at Guantánamo, “a senior [redacted] interrogator came to me and said, ‘There is nothing against you. But there is no innocent person here. So, you should confess to something so you can be charged and sentenced and serve your sentence and then go back to your family and country, because you will not leave this place innocent.”

This is deeply disturbing, of course, as it indicates that at least one senior interrogator recognized that the Bush administration’s refusal to recognize that there were innocent men at Guantánamo...

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TED

Someone posted a link to this on facebook. A video froma site called "ted" ( technology, entertainment, design)

WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE

A really good scare story from a time when they made real documentaries.

Swine Flu 1976 & Propaganda
Uploaded by Dianequiose-4. - More video blogs and vloggers.

EXCURSIONS...

As I have said before when it comes to chops I am not really into Harleys at all but this one really caught my eye on Ebay. It's sort of really subtle but futuristic in a way chop builders sometimes attempt but usually make a complete dogs dinner out of. Bidding just cleared five grand... I couldn't park something as pretty as this where I live!

TALIBAN

During wars and after them, the real voice of the enemy is rarely heard. Propaganda is plentiful, as are prideful boasts—and the Taliban have certainly been quick studies at the modern art of information warfare. But the fears and ambitions of ordinary fighters are too often buried under statistics and theories propounded from thousands of miles away. That’s been even more true in Iraq and Afghanistan, where reporters who might accurately convey the other side’s perspective are at risk of being kidnapped or killed for their efforts.

After eight long years of war in Afghanistan, however, America and its allies can ill afford not to understand who the enemy is and why they fight. To put together this remarkable oral history, told through the words of the Taliban themselves, NEWSWEEK turned to contributing correspondent Sami Yousafzai, who has been covering the conflict for the magazine since 2001. Over that time he has developed and maintained contact with dozens of Afghan insurgents, including the six whose stories are told here...

UPDATE: Now I have had time to read it myself- very interesting. Not surprising that a lot of this seems to have been directed by Arabs at first, or that Karzais Police are loosing the people with their corrupt behaviour now. I was surprised how often Chechens and Uzbeks are mentioned as I had a diferent concept of these countries, well Uzbekistan anyway. I was also surprised how little suicide bombing is mentioned.

Reading the whole article you get an idea of how fragmented these pockets of resistance are, but how as a whole they are bloody dificult for a superpower to deal with. It seems the Americans can't really stay and expect things to get better or leave, and "Your enemies enemy" isn't necessarily your friend for them in the long run either is it.

Also- Some really good pictures of the international forces in Afghanistan in the Big Picture here.

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Some people have got real fuckin problems

Also- A really interesting article about people who haven't got problems anymore, (unless you believe in the afterlife) and in what context photographs of them are circulated or used in the news.

To print or not to print (some not very nice images of dead people)

..

Binyam Mohammed

CHRISTIANITY

Lost Vegas

Investigative journalism in The Sun? OK then..


..

DEFINITIONS

...As used by the conspirators in this case, the term "jihad" meant defending Islam against its enemies through violence and armed aggression, including, if necessary, by using murder to expel non-believers from Muslim holy lands...

The article goes on to state that according to witnesses (plural) Kassir supported Bin Laden but does not say whether he believed Bin Laden responsible for 9/11 at the time nor anything about supporting terrorism outside of Muslim Holy lands.


I am assuming Kassir is this guy interviewed in The Asian tribune a long while ago

...While denying involvement in the London bombings, the man said that the suicide bombers who attacked three underground trains and a bus were “martyrs,” adding that he hoped also to become a martyr one day.

“They are not terrorists, as they are doing what Islam requires,” he said.

Sweden, he said, is not threatened by al-Qaeda, although he told Expressen that this could change if the Swedish government handed him over to the British or American authorities.

“If Sweden hands me over to another country then it will only have itself to blame. Sweden will then be punished with the greatest punishment.”...
..

AFGHANISTAN

Wade through this

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MORE JENVEY

Richard Bartholomew has written an interesting post which highlights a Guardian article about a Sun apology (though not to me for stealing my work, mutter, mutter..) relating to all things Jenvey, Ummah.com Alan Sugar etc. if you are up on that sort of thing. Its quite funny none of these articles state that Mr Jenvey is now a Muslim.

Related: Pickled politics and Press Complaints Commision

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MAYFAIR SQUATTING

More from Mayfair on ITN here.
Daily Mail
..

I am Not a Cynical Person

....The communique, whose signatories include British Airways, Virgin, BP, Shell and energy suppliers EDF and E.ON, warns that a failure to secure a deal in Copenhagen will worsen the current economic climate.

But a science-based agreement with commitments for deep and immediate cuts from industrialised countries will "deliver the economic signals that companies need if they are to invest billions of dollars in low carbon products, services, technologies and infrastructure", it said.

The communique, organised by the Prince of Wales's corporate leaders group on climate change based at the University of Cambridge, said: "Economic development will not be sustained in the longer term unless the climate is stabilised.

"It is critical that we exit this recession in a way that lays the foundation for low-carbon growth and avoids locking us into a high-carbon future."

The statement, signed by companies from more than 50 countries including the UK and Europe, the US, Russia and China, backed efforts to limit temperature rises to 2C, which will require global emissions to peak within the next decade and fall by between 50 per cent and 85 per cent by mid century...

..

Immortal Technique

In Afghanistan

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MAYFAIR SQUATTING

I have been unable to visit an exhibition by some more Mayfair squatters, the Art Collective Oubillete but it sounds like they have been having fun. Lucky Jim blogs about their art show here and appears on Talk Radio Europe talking about squatting here.

He also links to a very interesting article about Paul Palmer, Westminster City Council's empty-property officer.

..

Oussama Abdullah Kassir

...Oussama Abdullah Kassir, a/k/a "Abu Abdullah," a/k/a "Abu Khadija," was sentenced

today to life in prison for, among other things, providing material support to al Qaeda.

On May 12, 2009, following a four-week jury trial before Judge, Kassir was found guilty of charges relating to his participation in an effort to establish a jihad training camp in Bly, Oregon, and his operation of several terrorist websites.

Kassir was found guilty of all eleven counts against him, including: conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists; providing material support to terrorists; conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda; providing material support to al Qaeda; conspiracy to kill or maim persons overseas; and

distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction...

I can't really say anything new about this. Obviously Kassir has been convicted on evidence from James Ujamma. The only thing I heard while I used to hang around Finsbury was that James Ujamma was giving evidence against Hamza because the Americans were threatening to throw away the key. His wife is apparently here, or was last time I checked which was years ago now.

When Ujamma was released for reasons known to himself he skipped the country rather than staying to give evidence against Hamza, they caught him and have now used his evidence against Kassir. Whether Hamza, Kassir, Aswat or Ujamma are anything to do with Al Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden, no one is telling me.

..

Communities Talking

...This weekend John Denham compared today's far right to Oswald Mosley's 1930s fascists, and announced a drive to counter the extremists within white working-class communities. Yet it won't do for the government to extend its current counter-terrorist policies to treat the white working classes as another "at risk" category. It should first reflect on just how effective the policy has been...

... Last week, the imam giving the Friday address at the Harrow mosque invited those outside, who were calling for no more mosques in Europe, inside for talks. That would be a good start: polemics cannot be a substitute for understanding and reconciliation.

I am heartened by the reaction from the Imam. In Finsbury park years ago I tried to arrange an opportunity for members of the UBA to put their concerns to Mr Hamza as a lot of them had come all the way from Yorkshire. Not surprisingly in the situation it didn't work which I thought was a shame but I managed to record one interesting exchange when they returned a little while after Hamza's arrest.

RECLAIM THE BITCH

Well they got that one nailed down no worries. With the Thames festival winding down around it heads with blatant yellow jackets with "Reclaim The Beach" written on the back manhandle sound systems and decks down onto the beach as soon as the tide starts going out and everyone parties till the tide comes back in. No interest whatsoever from the law, a good time had by all and everyone pitching in on clean up duty at the end. Well done to all involved. Listening to all that dancehall at night in a T-shirt almost put me back in Jamaica.

At one point when some friends left and before others arrived I was dancing having a good time and noticing most people were standing around posing and chatting. The only people going for it, and whose vibe I could feel were a couple of kids. I spoke with their mum.

"I know you aren't supposed to take your kids raving, but we were here anyway and they are having such a good time.."

"Yeah," I agreed "It takes the rest of us untold drink and drugs to get to the same level as these guys are at naturally. Its ridiculous".

Things got a bit leary so the mum removed her nippers and I missed them.

Some people were doing balloons of laughing gas, or hippy crack as some call it. I have been experimenting with Holotropic breathwork which has pretty much the same effect, so I got some people to experiment with it to compare the effect, just in case they didn't have to waste their time breathing in N20.

I thought that it would be pretty funny if I have spent the last however many years getting myself in whatever states on whatever pills potions and drinks and all I had to do was breathe in and out really deeply for the same effect.

I haven't done any drugs for almost five months now. I was really surprised there was nothing wrong with my throat after years of bongs, so I didn't immediately restart my habit once I got the all clear. I don't feel any healthier, or in any better state of mind. I play the guitar the same which is nice, as I always thought I needed a bong to play the guitar which I obviously don't, so maybe that is good.

Dealing with friends with mental health problems is making me feel old, and making me feel there are better, more interesting things to do than the same drugs or even new ones. Having the number of the local secure unit on my phone still feels wierd. Old and drug fucked is not a good look, and if I have got away with it, I have got off lightly.

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Collected Squatting Manoevers

Of Tyting Farm

Law of the Land from anaconda on Vimeo.

Sorry, how do people get away with this sort of thing again?

A long-awaited report into the collapse of car giant MG Rover is expected to reveal that four bosses took more than £40 million in pay and pensions from the troubled firm.

The four businessmen bought MG Rover for a nominal £10 from owner BMW.

The men, known as the Phoenix Four - former MG Rover chairman John Towers, vice-chairman Peter Beale, Nick Stephenson and John Edwards - have been given copies of the 850-page report to study before its official publication.

The report comes more than four years after the motor firm went out of business with the loss of thousands of jobs.

The independent inquiry into the crisis has cost the taxpayer more than £16 million and will detail the Government's efforts to save the firm, including a £100 million bridging loan, as well as the involvement of the 'Phoenix Four'.

..

LIQUID

Well second time around and a reported 21 million pounds later they finally got a guilty verdict for three of them at least. I watched the first of these trials and I wondered what the jury had seen which the rest of us hadn't. I remember remarking at the time that after watching the tapes in the public gallery I was really suprised that a white jury hadn't convicted all of them.

There is a lot of blah in the news about how this inconvenience everyone who flys went through after the arrest of these people was all justified etc. With the convictions of only three of the group I am really interested in the stories I am not reading as they all made pretty similar videos in the same room at the same time.

The airline bomb plot: a reminder that Britain is at war with Islamist militants (Telegraph)
(The debate in the comments below is more interesting than the article)
Channel 4 News

UPDATE: We are going round again
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Seventeen Years

Seventeen Years I have been here and this is the first time I have been mugged. Three teenage black kids. My fault for cycling down a dark alley after midnight. I got whacked in the leg with a bike lock but they didn't seem to get off on violence. They just wanted a fucking telephone. I walked away saying

"What the fuck do you think you are doing? Where do you think this is going to get you? You are better than this.."

One of them picked up my bike and started walking toward me. I took my bike and asked for my phone and my wallet which they gave me. I think they took a tenner.

"What is the fuking matter with you? Do I look rich?"

They started walking away from me.

"Are you going to call the Police?" one of them asked as he went under a tunnel in the distance.

"Of course I'm fucking not." I shouted.

Why not? Because they gave me my phone back? Why not? Who is their next victim tonight? Would they be as lucky as me? I felt sensible not falling for gagetry capitalism. I have a shit phone with numbers which are really valuable to me. I have a shit bike no one wants but it is always where I leave it whatever state I get myself in.

As I said in a post the other day- No philosophy. My leg has a big welt on it. I haven't had any adrenaline kick in. I feel sorry for these people. I wish there was something I could do.

It is strange because I had just been watching the excellent series City of Vice. Really frightening true stories from when London really was a dangerous place. I am angry but I feel lucky that they didn't have knives.

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AFTERMATH

from a local newspaper

... “With no police presence this year we’ve been able to focus much more on the climate change message.”

Campers spent today taking down the tents, litter picking and removing the contents of their compost toilets, which will now be given to farms.

Protestor Murray Smith said: “We’ll be cleaning up until we return the heath to the way we found it. Everyone in the camp is encouraged to help and leave it in pristine condition.”

Hannah Smith, 23, said: “I think it’s been a fantastic success. We’ve had a chance to build this movement into something very exciting.

“It shows what we need are normal people to realise we all need to take responsibility for climate change.” ...

..

ST GEORGE

Via Pickled Politics here

A filmed interview with the English Defence League outlining some allegations about Mr Choudhary and co. Mr Choudhary's posse address the English defence league here curiously defending them from media distortions and accusations of racism from the UAF (Unite Against Facism).

NO PHILOSOPHY

Guardian-

...Small actions like the ones above may be inspirational to the participants, but they are of little use to the wider aim of garnering support and jolting politicians into action; showing politicians that the world is moving on and that they need to move with it.

For that you need to be ambitious, you need to plan and research meticulously; the result can be actions such as Greenpeace's climbing of the Kingsnorth chimney or Climate Camp's occupation at Heathrow, which genuinely created a buzz.

The next few months are crucial. It will be interesting to see whether Climate Camp's decision to invest in movement building will pay off...


err.. Yeah anyway whilst everyone was in town ripping the S off of SHELL I was up at the camp discussing Where Now? Very difficult because it was organised by people at the front who told everyone to discuss in groups for ten or five minutes and then went off on one themselves all the time yabbering between these stunted debates. This is consensus I am quite used to and it doesn't really bother me. I still reckon it is a good thing, we just have to spend longer invovled in each others lives than your average Capitalist.

They played a game where everyone walked around in circles shouting ideas at random which the group then answered which was quite fun. How can I surmise? People wanted Climate Camp to appeal to more people. They feel a bit middle class and honky-fied. Someone said they wanted less national meetings cos they are hard to get to and distract people from creating strong local groups. They want to engage with pre-existing community groups and residents associations.

I only arrived for the afternoon session, but in total this went on for about six hours. For the whole time one guy was standing alone with some stupid sign hassling people every so often with the facilitators trying to reason with him. Right at the end, when one chick got up and said there would be time for people to quickly publicise upcoming events to the group as a whole, another of them stood up and said she "Had to learn to say no" at these things, and then proceeded to use the time up waffling some more herself instead.

Its all quite funny really and, as I say its something I am quite used to. I like living surrealism. Will mainstream society one day embrace this non-hierarchical way of life? I think so. It is something which has been lost a long time ago which we are struggling to refind so although I felt a bit frustrated it didn't put me off any. I am only on the periphery of climate camp and if I can say anything useful I will.

Predictions? Well trying to shut down a Power Station will put the Police straight back into Kings North mode. Hassle people. Inconvenience them. Inconvenience them a lot. Provoke them. Try to discourage them from coming back. You can't just shut down Power Stations now can you? They'd look pretty silly if a bunch of people like this did shut a Power Station down eh.

But wait...

...Scotland Yard said tonight the model of policing used at Climate Camp, the week-long gathering of environmental activists that ends tomorrow, was a "really successful" approach that would be repeated at future demonstrations.

Chief Superintendant Helen Ball, a spokeswoman for policing at the campsite in Blackheath, south-east London, said neighbourhood-style tactics which included a "low-key" presence, limited surveillance of activists and almost no use of stop-and-search powers proved the Met had changed its approach since the G20 protests in April. The tactic is likely to be repeated at future demonstrations, she said, noting there had been just one arrest in seven days. "Where the opportunity arises to adopt a similar policing style in the future, we will do that, so if you are in Nottingham in October, buy some candles"...

I made up that last bit.

In the evening Martha Tilston played, which the folkies thought was a big deal. I realised as she played what was alienating me from all this. She has a great voice and beautiful songs but "Wonderful world" just isn't something I can relate to or sing along to with any conviction. Its not that I think it isn't, I just have no philosophy. This became apparent to me in a flash of inspiration in Tescos the other day. I would imagine a lot of people have shed their belief system in the queue at Tescos, this is how I shed mine.

I looked up and sitting down next to her mum was an Indian girl of perhaps fifteen with her face like the Elephant man. Sort of hall of Mirrors without the mirrors. Of course I looked away or tried not to look, or tried not to look uncomfortable. I walked on and saw a beautiful young blonde and felt my eyes and whole self attracted toward her. She opened her mouth and shattered the spell of her beauty with some proper Bermondsey attitude.

I just thought, human beings are just naturally as fickle as any other creature and I am one of them. No religion, no philosophy. I am not going to question anymore. If I can have fun, create or make the world a better place, its just because its a good idea. No belief, no goal. I think I am happy with that.

When I was hungover on Sunday some Spanish guy visiting my house was going on about Holotropic breathing. I have been giving it a go since and its made me incredibly angry very quickly to the extent that I am seriously considering finding some sort of guide rather than getting it all DIY style off of Youtube. Someone said I was "Holding on to Negativity" and had to "Breathe through it."

..

LIME

Some more stuff about Climate camp

Prosperity without growth, in a tent on Blackheath

....the Climate Camp suffers from a preoccupation with measuring its achievements in terms of the protests it has undertaken rather than a series of achievable goals that those outside the camp movement can easily identify with...


...The police have vanished, gone to confiscate some drugs at the Notting Hill carnival or practise their handbrake turns on the M25. And the campers admit that, actually, it feels a bit odd without them. After all, much though they may deny this, the police have actually been incredibly useful to Climate Camp – uniting the campers in the face of the common enemy, and keeping them in the headlines in the months between camps...


...Without the “common enemy” of the police, the protesters have nothing to motivate them. The interfering government chooses to ignore the campers, and suddenly the anarchists have nothing to do - there is no visible “man” to stick two fingers up at, so they are only left to pick their noses...


...We left the gates of Barclays covered in messages written on coloured paper...

...Then we decided to march around the city, and try to find some bankers in the local gastropubs having a Friday night drink...a man in a suit came up next to me and took hold of the end of it. At first I thought he was a camper dressed up as a banker for the event, but soon realised he was a genuine city worker, who had drunkenly joined us. He didn’t really know what was going on, and swung between asking us what it was all about, and shouting that he loved us all. As we approached the main access road to Canary wharf, he took the megaphone and danced around in front of the banner (and about 10 big cameras), and addressed the masses.

Our banker left us before we sat down and blocked the road for a while, (letting through the buses). Then back home to the camp, clearing out the free limes being given out by people advertising something on the way home...

More Non-Violence

via Pickled Politics

INVASION FORCE

...Detailed plans are being drawn up for a mass invasion of Britain‘s third most polluting power station.

The unfolding plot follows an unprecedented vote by thousands of climate activists to determine the target of their next mass direct action, with e.on’s Ratcliffe plant in Nottinghamshire named the clear winner in an announcement made at the Climate Camp last night (Sunday).

The Camp - currently pitched on Blackheath in London - held the online poll over recent weeks. More than 2000 activists voted, with Ratcliffe establishing a clear margin of victory over Drax in Yorkshire. Groups are now forming to plot the shutdown of the station by thousands of people who will descend on the e.on plant by land, water and air.

The invasion will take place on October 17-18, but logistical preparations are already under way at the Blackheath Camp. Teams are investigating Google Earth maps and poring over detailed intelligence on how best to enter the power plant and safely shut it down. Earlier this year, 114 people were arrested for conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass at the power station. No charges have been brought in connection with incident...

from The Guardian-

...A spokesman, Peter McDonnell, said that Climate Camp wanted to shed its image of being made up of "dangerous radicals and middle-class kids" and move into the mainstream.

But the novel tactics reveal a deeper dilemma within the broader environment movement. Climate Camp and the other groups planning the October action, such as anti-aviation group Plane Stupid, know that media coverage, focusing on the aggressive policing of protests such as the G20 in London on 1 April, has earned positive publicity and public sympathy. But organisers are keen to put the focus back on climate change.

They are also aware that some people will be scared off from joining protests with an intimidating atmosphere. Yet it is much harder to get publicity without dramatic direct action... Stephen Tindale, former director of Greenpeace and founder of consultancy Climate Answers, said: "There's still a role for direct action, but it's a bit of a catch-22."

... "We are trying to broaden the movement out to Marks & Spencer clothes-wearing people," said McDonnell.

From Reuters-

An E.ON spokesman said the firm would work with local police to ensure the plant remained safe and in operation.

"We are supportive of peaceful protest but it is unacceptable to us for people to attempt to break into our power stations to shut them down," he said.

"It is not safe for people to go into power stations when they don't know what they are doing."
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FIVE

I didn't go up today, was jamming in Hackney, but yesterday I went to a meeting run by the legal observers. There is a lot online about legal observers being hassled at Kings North, but apparently they have had a meeting with the cops and are recieving some sort of status recognition though it remains to be seen what will happen when this lot next take action of course.

They are advising everyone not to give their details to the Police as a policy and are all wearing T shirts with this message on them. There was some fainlty alarming stuff about data bases and Police questions. Its all a bit late for that for me as all the FIT posse know who I am. As I have said before I don't really care. I can totally justify what I am doing and I am of such disposition that if I started down the path of worrying about information, databases and "the state" I would drive myself more nuts than I am already. Again this was another meeting preparing fresh new people to become thorns in the side of the worst extremists of Capitalism by all non violent means necessary, including the law.

For a festival of between six hundred and a thousand people, maybe more at any one time there is nothing quite like it. Logistically the camp is split up into groups who are expected to, and intend to be responsible for various workings of the whole. I live close by so I can come and go but I am beginning to see how the intensity of things on site could become a bit cultish if you were camping up there, especially for people from outside London this sort of meet up must mean a hell of a lot. Me? I ain't joining any cult anytime soon. In a cliquey place like this city I am sure it is much easier if you fit into a group. I've had a foot in all sorts of camps over my time in London but never felt truly part of any of them. For a while now I have retreated into music. When and if Atilla is let out of jail there is a possibility I might make one film, apart from that I can't really see my focus changing.

comment by
John Q. Publican on Liberal Conspiracy-

...The job for this generation is to consolidate (what you describe as “becoming main-stream”): to get people to accept that they’re not going away, and that they know what they’re doing. One way you do that is photos of your people being butchered on the evening news while holding their hands up and chanting “This is not a riot”. It worked for Gandhi. It worked for CC.

The movement learned a lot from the crushing, and subsequent media treatment, of the Gleneagles protest. They learned that the only way to win that fight is through letting the forces of reaction show their colours and getting it on video-tape. They’ve implemented that knowledge, honed it across several violent assaults by police in the last 8 years, and on Bishopsgate the government handed them the chance they needed.

So now the task is to build on that. They’re at the table with the Met, finally, after 5 years of trying to get a useful response. They’ll be at the table with the GLA fairly soon, given how many members are interested. Ask me again in 11 years...
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DAY FOUR

The real point of Climate camp- Liberal Conspiracy
My Visit to Climate Camp- Happy Marx
Day 4- Random Blowe
Dawn of the (Almost) Living Vegans

Guided Tour

Cinema

Lock ons

Night time

I think I actually got the hang of Climate camp a bit better yesterday.

I turned up quite early with no plan of action and drifted into a talk called "Composting the Capitalist State". Maybe it was a bit early for me but this came across as the same confused dreaming of a better future I have been hearing from people at these things for years. Although it sounds like it this isn't really a critisism. I am confused too. I think it is hard to visualise a better society or concrete steps how to achieve one, and Climate camp is going to attract such dreamers. Anyway, A World to Win came across as really lovely people. They say they have a plan, look at their website and judge for yourself.

After watching a "Mass action game" where groups of people were learning to lock themselves together, jump fences and build "body blockages" of all descriptions I stumbled on to find myself at an "Action Speed dating" event.

Last time I was actively invovled in mass action? Reclaim the Streets sixteen years ago. How old are you? Some of these teenagers were imagining some mythologised Reclaim the Streets I tried to dispel a bit. Yes. Everyone blocked a main road took drugs and had a huge party because they could. Trafalgar Square, the M40, yes. It looked amazing but what was it about? What did it achieve or point to? We can take over a street, take drugs and have a huge party. Great.

I am going to do what? Tomorrow? Where? Its Sunday. Noone will even be at those offices. Yeah. I have some contacts in the media. They won't come. Try any day other than Sunday. They can't do it. Its got to be Sunday. Got to go back up North, can't really get arrested, got to go to work on Monday. Discussions about the artistry of building oil slicks with bin liners gaffa taped to the pavement.

"But aren't bin liners a product of the oil industry?"

"Oh. Shit."

If I am going to glue my bell end to something its going to take more than ten minutes planning with a group of random strangers. Unless they give me some K or something then, possibly. Coming round with a policeman in rubber gloves pouring thinners on my dick might just be the thing to put me off K for good. I have no idea yet if this conspiracy hatched anything but it made me miss dinner and a couple of us dropped down the hill into Lewisham to my favourite Italian deli for a sandwich and a beer.

In the afternoon I attended a debate I was looking forward to all day with at least a hundred others, which considering it was unamplified went really well. Called "Green Authoritarianism" I was hoping that we were all going to see who would make the best "Green Hitler" from our ranks and having been elected once, forever bow to their every despotic whim and propel them to national and global domination. It wasn't quite like that, but I thought The Anarchist Federation presented really well. The debate which followed left me with a realistic picture of the state of the collective climate camp mind as people argued using the state to make change (taxation) vs rejecting the state.

As well as people driving past the fence shouting, (I saw "I HAVE got a job" sprayed on a tent at the perimiter) I like to think there are just as many people going about their daily lives who wish the Climate Camp well, and hope that someone one day might come out with a sound idea for large scale change. Meanwhile Climate camp goes on, full of people plotting to lock themselves to shit, invade offices, glue their bell ends to the gates of Downing street etc, joyously recruiting others to do the same ever hopeful to raise awareness and to challenge the extremes of Capitalism.The press attention so far collected and proudly displayed on a straw bale near the entrance is I think unanimously positive.

Over the day I overheard many many people heatedly debating the Police change of tactics this year. Has Ian Tomlinsons death and the subsequent media backlash changed things? Is this just a fake charm offensive? I joined in a couple of these debates, but overall I don't think it really matters. These are all the people who feel they have to push. The Police will inevitably get in the way sometimes. They will find they are up against people wholeheartedly commited to what they are doing which must be a difficult thing to deal with and meanwhile the energy crisis will loom ever nearer.

I think realistically the venue change has a lot to do with it. People coming in their thousands from all over the country to try and shut down a power station is a really big deal which could potentially disrupt the lives of thousands. If people are doing this in a non violent manner what can "The State" do? Harrass them. Try to encourage them not to come back. Shutting down one of the main roads through the city with tents for a day will "raise awareness" and attract attention but it is not difficult to see the thinking of "The State". Do you leave these people overnight? Another day? Two nights? If they are not being violent but wont leave either how do you get rid of them?

Black Heath was really well chosen as a place to regroup, recruit and evangelise. To feed, water and provide toilets for so many people in London without permission and pack down to leave no trace is just a hell of an achievement. The entertainment in the evening was top class. The largest tent must have held six hundred or more gyrating people from all over the country dancing to live ska and great Balkan djs whilst outside people were singing round a fire all night.

..