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Home | Friday 5th May 2006 | Issue 542

WAKE UP!! ITS YER EXPORT STRENGTH...

SchNEWS

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Story Links: Dover And Out | Laughing Gas | Greasing The Palms | Corporate Punishment | Seeds Of Hope | Jamaica Inn-justice | SchNEWS In Brief | Traffic Jam | Mayday Roundup | ...and finally...

DOVER AND OUT

THEY THINK IT’S ALL DOVER.... IT IS NOW

One of the most sustained and successful direct actions in the 90s, the campaign against live exports looks set to kick off again. In response to attempts to export calves destined for continental veal crates through British ports and airports, thousands joined demos round the clock and physically prevented transports from boarding ferries. The anti-live exports campaigns saw animal rights move out of the anarcho-punk ghetto and become a street movement which ranged across generations (the so-called granarchists with their eldritch scream of “Eeeevil”). Hundreds of police were drafted in across to keep ports open but eventually the tenacity of protesters exhausted police budgets and in some places such as Shoreham Docks transports ceased altogether. (See all the way back to SchNEWS 6, 7, 12) The struggle was brought to an end with the BSE crisis where due to abuses suffered by animals in industrialised agriculture in the UK (such as enforced cannibalism), EU countries refused to take UK cattle.

Ten years later and the UK Government is celebrating the resumption of this cruel trade as the EU beef ban expires. Before the trade ban, male dairy calves were taken from their mothers at just a few days old and shipped to the Continent in veal crates. These crates are so cruel that their use has been banned in Britain since 1990. This time exporters are hoping to use Dover as the gateway to the continent.

Animal Aid campaigner Kate Fowler told SchNEWS. “Calves suffer when separated from their mothers, during livestock sales and transport, and then are incarcerated for the rest of their short lives. We are appalled that the government supports the shipping of British calves overseas where they will endure such cruelty. As well as attending the demonstration in Dover on May 6th, there is something every person can do on an individual level. To save these calves from ending up in veal crates, people should stop eating dairy products. These young calves are, after all, ‘waste products’ of the dairy industry. Without milk, there would be no veal.”

The calves are a surplus ‘by-product’ of the dairy industry – because their mothers’ milk is bottled off for people. Whilst some female calves will enter the UK dairy herd, many of the males - being too scrawny for beef production - are currently shot at birth. Up to half a million of these unwanted animals will now be shipped abroad each year. Young calves are known to fare particularly badly during the long, traumatic journey by road and sea in contraptions which are so cruel that most British consumers have shunned veal for years.

* See also Viva! www.viva.org.uk
* Kent Against Live Exports www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~kale
* Animal Aid www.animalaid.org.uk

LAUGHING GAS

Energy companies beware - it’s all go in Bolivia this week, as gas supplies begin to be brought under public ownership. Under Decree 28701, royalties paid to the Bolivian government by energy companies will increase from half to 82%. Companies will be obliged to sell 51% of their holdings to the Bolivian government and have six months to renegotiate contracts or get the boot. The law fulfils an election promise by left wing president, Evo Morales, to bring natural resources back under public control, following the recent ‘gas wars’ which pushed two presidents out of office (See SchNEWS 427 and 502).

Although the move was greeted by celebrations in the capital, La Paz, international investors are less excited. Amongst them is the government of Brazil, run by former Trade Union activist and now market friendly Lula Ignacio da Silva. The Brazilian state owned energy company, Petrobas, which has £1bn invested in Bolivia’s gas fields, has called the move ‘unfriendly’ and was, perhaps, a little surprised given that the government admitted that the military seizure of its facilities in Santa Cruz, had caught Brazilian ministers ‘with their pants down’. UK plc weighed in voicing concern that the move will put more pressure on the security of energy supplies in Europe and our ability to continue to burn fossil fuels like there’s no tomorrow.

Last week saw President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela visibly grin when he suggested that oil at $100 a barrel wouldn’t be too bad a thing. Over in Peru a closely fought election may see the victory of Ollanta Humala, who rose to fame after President Alberto Fujimori who legged it to Japan following a corruption scandal. Now he’s trying to pretend to be Japanese to prevent extradition. Bolivia is currently following Venezuela’s decision to form an assembly to draw up a more radical, indigenous-friendly constitution and may be joined by Peru following Humala’s talk of rewriting their constitution in order to “stop the process of neo-colonialism in Peru.”

Over in Washington investors are beginning to feel the pinch. Peter DeShazo, director of the Americas programme at the corporate friendly Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington was worried about the “extent Morales will be authoritarian and not democratic”. Perhaps he’d forgotten that Morales was elected in a landslide victory. Maybe it slipped his mind that the levels of indigenous support for these movements suggest that people are rightly taking back what’s been taken from them by the likes of DeShazo?

GREASING THE PALMS

Annita Roddick used to proudly display a sign in her office claiming they were the “most honest cosmetic company in the world.” Fans called her the “Mother Teresa of capitalism”. But then in 1994 a US mag, Business Ethics, blew the lid on her operation. Their Shattered Image story documented how the company nicked the Body Shop name and marketing concept, told porkies about the origins of key products, and wasn’t wholly truthful about its fair trade programs. Now they’ve sold their soul to L’Oreal, customers’ are turning away fast. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that the French firm, L’Oreal is 26 per cent controlled by our favourite Swiss multinational, Nestle (voted, in one poll last year, as the ‘least responsible company in the world’).

Body Shop bosses have been so shocked by the public’s reaction that they sent a letter to activists defending their position, claiming that now the Body Shop is owned by L’Oreal, they will be able to influence one of the world’s largest cosmetics companies. (Body Shop represents only 1/50 of L’Oreal’s business, by the way). Furry rabbits need worry no more. The Body Shop and L’Oreal have reached an ‘agreement’ on ethical standards. So that’s OK. Maybe the Body Shop bosses who were negotiating the deal forgot that their new parent company, L’Oréal were amongst a number of companies that have been trying to persuade the French government to dump legislation that brought in a ban on animal testing for cosmetic purposes. Check www.boycottbodyshop.co.uk for more info.

* Over in the United States, Co-op customers will be no doubt pleased to see their investment in Exxon Mobil going to some good causes. The oil company is continuing to pour millions of dollars into think tanks and Public Relations firms to peddle the lie that the science behind global warming is wrong. Exxon funds organisations like the Competitive Enterprise Institute who have compared the risk of climate change to that of “an alien invasion.” The free market-lovin’ Institute has twice taken legal action against the US government to stop it from distributing a report that shows how climate change is affecting the US.

* Corporations are nice guys really, especially those like Betchel and BP, according to ‘Ethical Corporation’, the oxymoronically named mag which promises “Incisive analysis of the global drivers that make corporate responsibility a critical risk to your corporate reputation and brand.” Back in Oct 2004 they ran a “Business Action on Human Rights” seminar attended by the likes of BP, Shell and De Beers (see SchNEWS 485).

This time we’re being invited to hear company bosses talk about ‘ethical leadership’. But hurry the £1,000-a-head tickets for the agenda-setting, corporate responsibility shindig are selling out fast! You can hear Barclays CEO John Varley forget to mention the bank’s investments in Apartheid South Africa or Nestle’s Niels Christiansen skirt around the millions of malnourished babies on Formula Milk. Or find out how mining corporation Rio Tinto lobbied the Australian government to boycott the Kyoto Treaty. If you can’t quite afford to go along to the bash, why not pick up a subscription to the greenwash magazine - a tax free snip at £250 a year over on www.ethicalcorp.com

CORPORATE PUNISHMENT

Corporate Watch are celebrating ten years of being a thorn in the side of many a shonky firm, becoming the first port of call for many activists and researchers getting their heads around the head spinning world of the big zillion-dollar rip-off all around us. To mark the occasion there will be a conference in October, and leading up to this CW are calling for readers to send in their top ten corporate crimes on the back of postcard, and even a poetry competition (entries close July 1st).

* For more contact 01865 791 391 or see www.corporatewatch.org.uk

SEEDS OF HOPE

Detainees in Guantanamo Bay have now been refused permission to plant a garden, in line with the same policies that have refused them everything else (e.g. a trial). Gardens are common in prison-of-war camps, but these prisoners are not allowed one, even though they are innocent. They live in Camp Iguana, a section of Gitmo for prisoners who have been found innocent. The US can’t decide what to do with them, so they keep them fenced in a pen on a small patch of land. Problem solved! One prisoner told his lawyer that after being refused permission, seeds or tools, they went DIY, saving the seeds from food they were given. They scratched the hard, dry earth with plastic spoons and mop handles to make enough soil to plant into. A prisoner said they now have watermelon, peppers, garlic, cantaloupe and a two inch lemon tree, though it’s not doing too well.

UK-based campaign group, Reprieve, has asked for people to send them seeds, which will be passed onto the prisoners. They ask to only send pre-packaged, commercially produced seeds, in sealed packets, to avoid giving customs an excuse to reject them.

Send them along to Reprieve, PO Box 52742, London, EC4P 4WS.

JAMAICA INN-JUSTICE

When 30 police raided Ernesto Leal’s London home on Mayday to cart him off to Belmarsh Detention Centre it was not the safety of the public that was being protected but the Home Secretary’s career, as Labour pulls out all the stops to show how tough it is on immigration and crime in fear that its losing working class voters to the BNP. Ernesto’s family fled Chile in the 1970s to escape Pinochet’s coup, arriving in Scotland where they were adopted by the Fife mining community and became active in social justice struggles. Ernesto grew up and made his home in Britain and has a UK passport.

In 2004 he was convicted of grievous bodily harm, his first and only offence, as a result of a racially motivated pub brawl. Now Ernesto faces deportation to Jamaica – a country he has never visited or had any connection with. Ernesto’s sister Sonia told SchNEWS, “Ernesto did commit a crime, which he served his time for in an open prison because he was not considered a threat to the public. No reason has been given as to why he would be deported to Jamaica.”

Ernesto’s family are asking people to contact their MP and the Home Office (phone 0208 196 0942 fax 0208 196 0930) asking why Ernesto Leal (reference L306526) is being deported.

SchNEWS In Brief

• Stop the Seal Prison Demo against the Sealife Centre’s application for seal and otter pools in Brighton on Sat May 13th. Meet outside Sealife Centre at 12pm. If you can help putting up stalls and banners get down there at 11.30am. Brighton Animal Action will also hold meetings 1st and 3rd Weds of every month at Cowley Club, 12 London Rd, Brighton, 7pm. 07787953347
• East Anglian Social Forum 6th May, 12-5pm, will be held at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, Ipswich (opposite St Mary Le Tour church) with discussions about the environment and the public service crisis.
• On 15th May will be a Block The Builders blockade against the building of the new laser facility at AWE Aldermaston in Berkshire 0845 4588366 www.blockthebuilders.org.uk/action
• In Worthing a Rally For Civil Rights May 6th, 2pm Montague Place, Worthing (near bandstand) in opposition to everything from ID Cards to new police powers. www.eco-action.org/porkbolter
• The film ‘A Letter to the Prime Minister - Jo Wilding’s Diary from Iraq’ will be screened at the Environment Centre, Pier Street, Swansea, May 8th, 7.30pm. Read Jo’s accounts at www.wildfirejo.blogspot.com Plus activist Dave Rolstone talks about his work in Iraq and Palestine.

TRAFFIC JAM

Work may be about to start on the proposed M74 motorway running straight through Glasgow. Despite being rejected by a Public Local Enquiry, the Scottish Executive is pressing ahead regardless. This week at Eglinton Toll, in the pathway of the road and the site of the Cre8 Summit last year (see SchNEWS 501), workers cleared, leveled and graveled most of the site. This comes after other tree felling and clearing at another site, and the SE continuing to purchase land along the route.

* Next meetings of JAM74 - 9th & 23rd May, 7.30pm, Govanhill Neighbourhood Centre, 6 Daisy Street, Glasgow G42 8JL

* For more see www.jam74.org

MAYDAY ROUNDUP

Traditional 1st of May demos and protests took part all over the UK and around the world last weekend. In London up to 4,000 joined the TUC march to Trafalgar Square. 800 people from the Autonomous Bloc marched on the issues of precarity and migration. Meanwhile, the Space Hijackers were having a ‘police victory party’ outside the Bank of England (see And Finally). Elsewhere in London the Workers Memorial Day demonstration commemorated those killed at work.

It was busy in Manchester with a Chaos Mass bike ride, a May Day march, anti-nuclear demonstration to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl, and a picnic against capitalism. Over in Cambridge demos took place against the privatisation of public services, as well as an ‘Extra tea for mayday’ action where activists visited ASDA to give extra tea breaks to the workers forced to work on Mayday.

Up in Newcastle a contingent from Tyneside Community Action for Refugees marched demanding the right to work for refugees and asylum seekers, and in Liverpool the Merseyside’s May Day celebrations included a march and a rally in Princes Park. In Scotland there was the traditional May Day march and rally in Edinburgh, and a MayDay parade in Glasgow.

...And Finally...

Fed up with the fact that the annual Mayday confrontation has become a boring ritual? Haven’t smashed up a Mcdonalds for what feels like eternity? Annoyed that the pigs have got it all sewn up?

The Space Hijackers (www.spacehijackers.org) a group of situationist degenerates have an answer (of sorts) - if you can’t beat ‘em (or if in fact they’re beating you) join ‘em.

“Meeting up in our secret side room, of a central London pub, the Hijackers bashed our brains together to come up with something for this year. Eventually the Mayday Police Victory Party was born. We realised that without a major anarchist action, there would be a lot of Police missing out on their guaranteed double time, mayday bonus. Plus their bosses would be looking forward to toasting the hard work they had put into suppressing previous maydays, in order to get people to toe the line and protest in an organised and authorised manner. What better way to celebrate this than to invite the police to a big, anarchist street party? And what better location than the Bank of England, on a bank holiday? We decided to host a Police party, for the police, dressed as the police. Our actions generally attempt to blur the line between general public and hijackers, involving everyone in the event rather than performing for them. The police however always get stuck on the outside, looking in longingly and wishing they could play. We have never been ones for painting things as totally black and white, and we know that underneath those stern uniforms there are a bunch of saucy party goers aching to get out.”

Disclaimer

SchNEWS warns all readers that if you’re gonna dress up as a copper remember to hide your number... Honest!

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