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Story Links: Profits Of Doom | Crap Arrest Of The Week | High Fives All Round | Party and Protest | Debt of Ingratitude | Starlight Express | SchNEWS in Briefs | Anti-War Demos | All That Glitters | ...and finally...

PROFITS OF DOOM

GREENBACKS GALORE IN GREENWASH FEEDING FRENZY

Soaring temperatures, water droughts, war in the Middle East and a mad scramble for dwindling energy supplies… Despite facing climate chaos, politicians - and the corporations they serve - continue as if nothing is happening to our ecosystem. Instead, the multinationals are rampantly exploiting away so that consumers can enjoy breakthroughs like cheaper plasma TV sets. And now climatologists are predicting that global temperatures will rise quicker than previously expected, as tipping points are reached and irreversible changes to our climate are just round the corner.

Faced with this, are the most powerful institutions on our planet slamming on the economic brakes before we get to the cliff edge? Er no, they’re plotting ‘profit driven’ solutions to the oncoming tumble into the abyss. OK, those bunny-huggin’ eco-nuts might have had some valid points about the whole global warming thing, but don’t think of Climate Chaos as a problem, look on it as a window to new markets! Judging by the tsunami of greenwash at the moment, rather than causing a major problem for big business, it looks there’s real cash to be made with global warming and investors are being told to look greenwards to make some serious loot. General Electric, the world’s 11th biggest corporation with £9billion worth of annual profits, have just launched ‘Ecomagination’, a subsidiary company which seeks to make as much cash as possible from all things solar-powered and run by the wind. Looking according to one former US government official, “to make money in a carbon constrained world”. Last autumn investment heavyweights, Goldmann Sachs, published its ‘Environmental Policy Framework’, which aims to “find effective market-based solutions to address climate change, ecosystem degradation and other critical environmental issues.”

The message is that we should ignore the fact that our consumerist culture is one of the root causes of all this, ‘cos our newly greened oil giants are gonna tweak a few things, stick up a couple of wind turbines and everything’ll be fine. Shell and BP-Amoco, for example, have been busy transforming their image from oil barons with dodgy environmental and human rights records, to ‘energy companies’ committed to taking action to combat climate change. BP might have gone from British Petroleum to Beyond Petroleum but it just can’t seem to go Beyond Profit. If you believed the propaganda you’d think Shell et al were getting out of the oil business and into making fair trade hemp dungarees. Pictures of besuited executives cuddling reindeer, dancing under rainbows and associating themselves with all things eco-friendly hides the all too predictable reality. Big oil spends less than 1% of its budget on renewable energy, while they continue to invest billions in the damaging search for oil all over the planet. BP, for example, spent £20 million buying the Solarex Corporation to boost its solar power credentials - at the same time it plans to spend £3billion over the next five years on oil exploration in Alaska. Who said it wasn’t easy being green?

And there’s nothing like Peak Oil to boost profitability! This week Exxon is expected to report the biggest ever quarterly profit for a corporation, with £5billion made in only three months. Just like the oil companies, and despite the drought - the water companies are raking it in too. Although it loses one third of its water through leaky pipes, Thames Water profits are up 10%.

Research boffins are currently predicting an increase in average surface air temperature of about 2.5°C by the year 2100, with an increased risk of extreme heat waves and sea-levels rising by around half a metre over the next 100 years. And if you’re thinking, “well at least the summer’s are a bit warmer”, further melting of the Arctic Ice Caps could be sufficient to turn off the ocean currents that drive the Gulf Stream, which keeps Britain up to 6oC warmer than it would otherwise be.

GROUND UP ROUND UP

These are the crazy facts of life that motivate people to actually try and confront this madness. Up in Nottingham, protesters against the proposed building of the country’s most polluting incinerator have employed a range of tactics from petitioning, picketing to organising a ‘Rubbish Day Out’ where members of the local community came along to various workshops about how to recycle the crap that could end up in the incinerator. This included a nice bit of banner-making for future demos. Now the council has backed down and agreed to a wider pubic consultation, putting the scheme on hold at least for the time being – see www.nail.uk.net for more info. Meanwhile, the fight against the Newhaven incinerator in East Sussex (See SchNEWS 488) continues, see www.dove2000.org

Over in Titnore woods, Worthing (See SchNEWS 547 and www.schnews.org.uk/sotw/titnore.htm) protesters have taken to the trees to demonstrate against proposals to build 875 new homes and an even bigger Tescopoly. On Thursday (27th July) protesters lost their civil trespass case in the high court. Corporate lawyers and the cops are treating the case as trespass rather than a protest and, if the appeal is lost, eviction could happen in early August. Police have been going round to local hardware shops pressurising staff into refusing to serve people from the camp. So there’s a call out for more stuff and people to help resist any eviction. The area is abundant with wildlife which could include endangered species, so if you’re a bug expert, please go along! www.freewebs.com/titnore

The world’s 16,000 commercial jet airlines generate more than 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide - more than the total output of Africa. One flight from here to the US will use 2 tonnes of carbon, nearly a third of the average annual UK person’s carbon footprint.

In 2003, the UK Govt set out its programme for airport expansion which would treble air traffic by 2030, and lead to major expansions at Shoreham, Stansted, Luton, Heathrow, Birmingham and Edinburgh Airports – for more see www.rethink.airportwatch.org.uk

And… there’s always time for another plug for the Camp for Climate Action between 26th August and 4th September in Megawatt Valley near Leeds. An opportunity for activists to come together, share ideas and get involved in some direct action. www.climatecamp.org.uk

Otherwise, there’s some inspiring suggestions about what to do in Rising Tide’s 50 ideas for climate change action (risingtide.org.uk/pages/resources/fifty.htm). Sow some seeds in council flowerbeds to spell out a message, subvertise some adverts, try out Guerilla Energy Reduction, and try hassling everyone you know to hassle everyone they know to hassle.... But best of all stop buying all the unnecessary crap that’s being pushed down our throats!

Crap Arrest Of The Week

For dressing like a Zombie...

Six mates from Minneapolis who were out and about on a ‘Zombie dance party night’ were, according to a police spokesman, “arrested for behaviour that was suspicious and disturbing.” Cops appear to have mistakenly thought that their rucksacks, which contained portable radios, were in fact bombs and the group were potentially toting ‘simulated weapons of mass destruction’. Having been let off with the minor charge of ‘disorderly conduct’ this was “not a case of police overreacting,” said Inspector Janee Harteau, “why would you have those bags if not to intimidate people?”

HIGH FIVES ALL ROUND

In Ireland, The Pitstop Ploughshares Five, who took a stand against the use of their country as a staging post for the ‘War on Terror’ and damaged military aircraft, found themselves triumphantly acquitted (unanimously) by a jury this Tuesday. They were found not guilty of committing £1.2 million worth of damage to US military aircraft, by a jury in The Four Courts, Dublin, after a thirteen day trial. The five, from the Catholic Worker movement, were arrested during an anti-war action at Shannon Airport in western Ireland, in the build-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. At the time, the airport was being used as a supply base and hub for U.S servicemen commuting from the US to the Middle East.

In the early hours of February 3rd 2003, the five cut their way into the airport, poured human blood on the runway used for US military flights and constructed a shrine to Iraqi children. They then began to attack and damage the runway itself. When they got to a hanger housing a US Navy plane, they painted “‘Pit stop of death”’ on the main door and began dismantling the hanger. To cap it off they charged in to disarm the warplane with hammers. On arrest they all were remanded for between four and eleven weeks, facing possible sentences of ten years’ jail.

This trial turned out to be third time unlucky for the prosecution after the first case ended in a mistrial after five days, and the second collapsed when it emerged that the appointed judge had a personal relationship with Dubya Bush. After this third failure a spokesperson for the US Embassy in Dublin was said to be ‘very disappointed’ with the result.

This is yet again a vindication that members of the public - a jury - have agreed with the protesters and their claims that they were preventing the greater crimes of war and genocide, as opposed to simply taking the criminal damage charges at face value. This comes virtually on the tenth anniversary of the four Ploughshares women being found not guilty by a jury in Liverpool Court after having done £23million damage to Hawk Jets. They represented themselves and also won with the prevention-of-genocide argument (See SchNEWS 84)

But despite this victory Shannon Airport is still being used by the US military, and the Shannon Planespotters continue to report sightings of CIA Rendition and other covert aircraft. Just last month cleaning staff at the airport claimed to have seen a man in shackles on board a US aircraft.

* For more see www.indymedia.ie and www.warontrial.com

Party & Protest

• JULY 29 - March in Canning Town, East London, by an alliance of local organisations against the return of the DSEi Arms Fair in 2007. Meet at the fountain, Balaam Street entrance to Plaistow Park at 12.15pm for march through Canning Town. Nearest tube: Plaistow. Ph: 07986 904748 See also www.dsei.org
• 29 - Demonstration at Campsfield Detention Centre in Oxfordshire, 12pm-2pm. Come and make some noise to give support to detained refugees in the centre. This is a regular event which happens on the last Saturday of every month. www.closecampsfield.org.uk
• 29 July - 12 August - Trident Ploughshares - International Disarmament Camp, Coulport, Scotland. 15 days of direct disarmament actions at Faslane and Coulport naval bases. At the Peaton Glen Wood campsite. www.tridentploughshares.org/article983
• August 2-6 - The Big Green Gathering – near Cheddar, Somerset, £95 see www.big-green-gathering.com
• 6 – The Peace Cycle begin their 6 week ride to middle east to raise awareness about Palestine, leaving from Embankment Gardens, 1pm. www.thepeacecycle.org

Debt of Ingratitude

As Israel calls up thousands more troops in preparation for a ground invasion of Lebanon, guess who’s likely to have to pay for the all the destruction that’s been caused? You’ve got it – Lebanon! Three Israeli lawyers are about to file a lawsuit in the US against the Lebanese government for compensation which would have to be paid to Israeli businesses for war damages. Nice little earner! The idea is that the Lebanese government (elected just last June) should have prevented Hezbullah from launching its attacks. What’s at stake is Lebanon’s breaching of the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism. Not a bad argument coming from a country engaged in a bloody illegal invasion of a neighbouring country that has seen 400 Lebanese killed together with 45 of its own civilian population in just over two weeks.

If the Lebanese refuse to cough up a tough approach to debt collection is promised. The threat of economic sanctions will ensure that the cash is “collected from Lebanon without its consent.” According to one of the well paid litigators pursuing the case, “we intend to sue other bodies as well in the case that the Lebanese government evades payment. No group associated in any way, shape, or form to Hizbullah is immune to these claims.” And just what are the Lebanese people to make of this? Said lawyer went on, “in my opinion, the Lebanese need to sue their own government”. The perfect answer for profit hungry lawyers and the parasites that like to make money from misery.

STARLIGHT EXPRESS

For the first time ever, details of the 1,000 nuclear rail transports that take place in the UK each year have been made publicly available. You can now know for certain that potentially lethal loads of incredibly dangerous materials are definitely thundering through your neighbourhood, with minimal protection on a rickety old infrastructure (maybe best to avoid any direct derailment action protest in this instance!). Talking of accidents, you’ll be reassured to learn that trains on the Dungeness to Willesden Junction route have twice collided with vehicles on an unmanned level crossing and in Bridgewater, a cargo of unprotected nuclear waste sat for several hours less than 100 metres from a school in October 2005.

* View the whole terrifying timetable at www.greenpeace.org/international/news/nuclear-waste-trains-260706

SchNEWS IN BRIEF

• Last weekend was the NoBorder Camp in Italy’s north west Gorizia on the Slovenian border. At an action at the Deportation Centre in Postojna, Slovenia, around 150 Noborder activists arrived to try to blockade the gates, but were met with heavy handed police, who heavily truncheoned protesters and arrested seven.
• Are you in the north of England and looking for a ton of organic, nutritious compost? The compost waste from two large events next month - the Camp for Climate Action and the Northern Green Gathering, will be looking for a home. If you can help email tomasremiarz@cooptel.net

ANTI-WAR DEMOS

There are actions and demonstrations across the country this weekend protesting against Israeli attacks in Lebanon and Palestine, and the UK Govt’s complicity in it.

Demonstrations include this

• Friday 28th: London - 5-7pm at Downing St
• Saturday 29th: Cardiff - 1pm at the city hall, Birmingham - 1-3pm in High Street by Bull Ring entrance, Leeds - 2pm at Leeds City Art Gallery, and Oxford – vigil 12pm-2pm at the Carfax end of Cornmarket
• Sunday 30th: London - 1-3pm at Trafalgar Square, Brighton - 12.30pm at Palmeira Square

For more events around the country see www.palestinecampaign.org/events.asp

ALL THAT GLITTERS

Back in the 80s in the Kardjali District of Bulgaria, corporate prospectors decided that the only profitable way to extract some local gold is to use, er cyanide (around eleven tons of it). Although the proposals would gradually contaminate the local groundwater with toxic poison this has only been viewed as a slight nuisance, and plans were quickly made to forcibly evict surrounding villagers. Only after a prolonged battle with local communities, and the realisation that they really would be poisoning the water supply for whole Thracian valley area, were plans finally abandoned. 18 years on and a number of corporations are have now re-evaluated the situation and have decided that the size of potential profits are worth a taking the additional ‘risk’.

Profit hungry Canadian firm, ‘Euromax’ are one such company, noting “while mineral wealth in this region formed the foundation of some of the most powerful dynasties in the ancient world, exploration in modern times has been at best sporadic.” Eager to reverse this trend, Euromax bought up the mining rights to the area back in 2004. Since then they’ve been beavering away trying to make sure any trifling legal or democratic objections were overturned or bypassed, eventually succeeding in getting the supreme court to rule that no environmental impact concerns need addressing at all! Locals, for some strange reason, are less enthusiastic about getting the prospective trashing of their ecosystem and they’ve been campaigning against a deal that allows Euromax to mop up 99% of the profits, only bunging the local municipality a mean 1%. After a failed ‘promotion’ campaign in the villages, and when heavy mining equipment started showing up at night, 500 people quickly mobilised and blocked off access to the site.

Since 29th June the people from Popinci, together with their neighbours, have set up a permanent barricade at the hill of Petelovo, shutting the road to the proposed mine. Elderly grannies, mothers with small children, teenagers, middle-aged men and women have all joined the camp to try and save their village. 7 days into the camp, one of the protesters was found with a knife in his chest, following a disagreement with the company’s bodyguards the previous day. No information about the case has so far been made public. Nearly a month later, protesters are still there, declaring that “We will not elect people who are betraying us, instead of supporting us. We will not vote. These people must understand that this state is OURS. We have to redefine our definition for a state.” More at www.aseed.net Other interesting stuff about Bulgarian mining and pollution at www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13235 If you’re up for going email info@zazemiata.org

...and finally...

Foreign secretary Margaret Beckett is ‘not happy’ and will be taking a really tough stance with her pals in the White House over revelations that Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport was used to ship bombs over to Israel. The complaint is to be issued because the US er, failed to ‘follow procedure’. Presumably, in order to use a UK airport to aid and abet an illegal invasion of another country, you need to fill in form AF237 - and the military commanders must have forgotten to do this – bloody paperwork! The 5,000 pound laser-guided bombs in question are supposed to be used to ‘bust’ the ‘sophisticated cave networks’ where bearded terrorists like to hide out, but are being utilised against civilian populations with devastating results. But a Foreign Office spokesman has promised to “look at our approach to these flights”, indicating, perhaps a move towards ticketless online booking.

Disclaimer

SchNEWS warns all readers that the value of your planet can go down as well as up. Honest!

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