SchNEWS - this week 10 years ago
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SchNEWS
594, 29nd June, 2007
Dancing on the CeilingTwo anti-war activists who scaled the well-trodden roof of Brighton arms dealers EDO MBM for a rooftop occupation were acquitted on a charge of Aggravated Trespass this Wednesday at Brighton magistrates. Also US-Australian war games were halted this week by a big hump back whale, the UK's first Tent State at Sussex Unversity, the Schnews 'Blair Charge Sheet' and more.....
SchNEWS
593, 22nd June, 2007
Put the Kettle On Now the cheap red wine hangovers have faded it's time for some critical reflections on the G8 Summit party and protest - and some endless rambling war stories. Also The Hill of Tara in Co. Meath, Ireland, one of the most important archaeological complexes in the world, is under threat due to a motorway being built nearby, Numbers of Bees are declining rapidly, the solstice at Avebury and more...
SchNEWS
592, 15th June, 2007
GHETTO BLASTED Forty years on from Israel's seizure of the West Bank and Gaza during the '67 Six Day War and it still never seems to be good news in Palestine.
Also why in some US states it's illegal to give food to homeless persons, G8 Actions,
Michael Moore's new film and more...
SchNEWS
591, 8th June, 2007
Who's the Baghdaddy Iraq's 'government' has issued arrest warrants for the leaders of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions - on strike since 4th June. The oil unions are protesting against the new oil law and for improvements to wages, health and other working and living conditions. Also G8 update, Turkish special forces have invaded Northern Iraq/Iraqi Kurdistan and more.
SchNEWS
590, 1st June, 2007
PIG IGNORANCE Fourteen campaigners against the Oxford Animal lab, charged with
various public order offences, walked free on May 30th after revelations
of a police stitch-up, heard because a police tape recorder was
left on. Also more on the build up for the G8, a UK resistance round-up,
Pine Gap 4 and more...
SchNEWS 589, 25th May, 2007 - Prepare for the Wurst Despite the jackboot problems of the last month, preparations on the ground have continued across Germany for the G8 and the mass convergence has already begun, with people, clowns and bicycle caravans all pitching up in readiness for the main events. Also a little on what the politicians will be talking about at the G8, the latest on the B52 two and the met being mean to nice people on bikes....
SchNEWS 588, 18th May, 2007 - Brothers in Arms Last Tuesday saw an international get-together for hi-tech arms-dealers - The Shephard Group's Electronic Warfare 2007 at the Olympia Conference Centre. The conference punters arrived expecting to find out the latest on assassination by email but were met by a crowd of vocal protesters. Two managed to scale the roof and unfurl a banner saying 'Smart bombs - stupid wars'. Also Al Gore planning big concerts, Shell has AGM and Argentinean commuters get fed up with privatised railways....
SchNEWS 587, 11th May, 2007 - Never mind the Bolivars - At the same time that Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez was announcing the re-nationalisation of the last parts of the country's oil industry still in private hands, several other countries joined in with May Day calls to leave the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Also the build up to this years G8 has begun with state forces across europe using violence and intimidation to try and spoil the party, France has elected a Right Wing leader and the police in Philadelphia go on a fortune teller round up....
SchNEWS 586, 4th May, 2007 - SHAC TAKES THE FLAC In yet another hammerblow aimed at the animal rights movement, police made 32 arrests across the UK in the early hours of Tuesday morning in 'Operation Achilles'. The whole operation was designed with maximum publicity in mind - the press were tipped off in advance and dutifully reported on the latest crackdown on animal rights 'extremism'. Also more monumental events near the Hills of Tara this week, two reports from Africa and more....
SchNEWS 585, 27th April, 2007 - TARA TARA TARA The biggest anti-road direct action protest ever in Ireland may be about to happen at the Hill of Tara, north west of Dublin, if attempts to have the area protected on archaeological grounds, and other legal efforts fail. Also one of the Rossport 5 awarded the prestigious Goldman Environment Prize and more....
SchNEWS 584, 20th April, 2007 - RUBBER STAMPED Last Friday, one of the seventeen strong Brighton delegation to Palestine was shot by the Israeli Defence Force, but fortunately the shot, ricocheting off his arm, was not lethal. Also a new private dention centre for immigrants, privatised schools, Mumia Abu Jamal still on death row and more....
SchNEWS 583, 13th April, 2007 - SPUD-U-HATE "BASF state the trials are designed to test whether potatoes can be genetically modified to be resistant to blight. However, given the historical context, it seems more likely their function is to test if the UK public is still resistant to GM." - Mutatoes.org plus climate change protestors storm Ratcliffe Power Station, more SOCPA shenanigans, Les Tanneries community squat in Dijon under eviction and more...
SchNEWS 582, 30th March, 2007 - SILI-CON JOB Is there such a thing as a fair-trade iPod or computer? No. SchNEWS looks at the electronic sweatshops in east Asia and the environmental problems caused by the hi-tech consumerism. Plus, update on Ungdomhuset evition in Denmark, M1 widening and more...
SchNEWS 581, 23rd March, 2007 - PUTTING ON THE WRITS A look at the increasing use of the protection from Harassment Act against protesters. Also the real cost of gold, a faslane update and more.
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WAKE UP!! IT'S YER STILL PUMPING IT OUT... SchNEWSPDF Version - Download, Print, Copy and Distribute! Story Links: Shells Angels | Sites For Sore Eyes | Party And Protest | Alive and Kicking | Summer of 69 | Vegging Out | Positive SchNEWS | and finnaly $HELLS ANGELSAS ROSSPORT CAMPAIGNERS FIGHT THE GAS REFINERY IN WEST IRELANDMajor construction is scheduled to begin on the controversial Shell onshore gas refinery in County Mayo, Ireland within the next month. The planned refinery and the high pressure pipeline, which would supply it with unprocessed gas from the offshore Corrib gas field, have been bitterly opposed by local residents and their many national and international supporters since it was first proposed in 2000. Shell and their partners Statoil and Marathon had hoped to have the facility in operation by 2003, but massive local resistance has meant that, four years on, the development is still in its infancy. An impressive feat considering the odds; the Irish state has backed the multinationals all the way, changing and ignoring planning and environmental protection laws (See SchNEWS 549) and transferring huge numbers of police to the area to suppress the protesters (see SchNEWS 564 and 585). With the resistance camp having already celebrated their two-year anniversary, this weekend marked two years since the imprisonment of the Rossport Five (see SchNEWS 505). It also saw the end of the preparatory phase of the development process as peat extraction from the site was completed. SACS MANIACS The Corrib gas project seeks to pipe volatile unprocessed gas dangerously close to dwellings and through several SACs’ (special areas of conservation), supposedly under the protection of EU law. The gas would then be processed at a refinery built on unstable bogland, situated within the catchment area of Carrowmore lake which provides the drinking water for 10,000 people. Even before construction, preparatory work for the development has seen consistent breaches of World Health Organisation recommended maximum amounts of aluminium in discharges that flow into the lake. The refinery would be a huge source of air and water pollution. It would use both flaring and cold venting procedures (the release of gas into the atmosphere without burning). Cold venting would annually release between 200,000 and 300,000 kg of methane, a major greenhouse gas, with the risk of vapor cloud explosions and acid rain. The site would hold over 5,000 tonnes of dangerous chemicals. Among these would be the highly toxic methanol, over 1,500 tonnes of which are expected to be lost each year. It is presumed that this will be emitted along with the waste water due to be pumped into Broadhaven bay, “an important area for a number of marine mammal species and for other marine life” according to a report commmissioned by Shell (and subsequently swiftly suppressed by them). The waste water would also contain heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and cadmium. Any waste not pumped into the bay will drain instead into the reservoir, Carrowmore Lake. GAS PRESSURE Immediately prior to the imprisonment of the Rossport Five, a picket of all Shell sites in the area was established. The campaigners managed to prevent any work on the pipeline or refinery taking place for 18 months. In October 2006, the government approved a massive and costly police operation to allow work on the refinery to recommence (see SchNEWS 564). Since October, resistance has continued unabated with daily protests outside the proposed refinery site. Despite regular beatings and harassment by cops, campaigners have stuck to non-violent means of protest such as sit downs, blockades of vehicles, site invasions and more recently, quite a successful lock-on which had the Irish police scratching their heads for some time. There are currently ten separate court hearings related to the campaign waiting to be heard in the next week or so. CABIN FEVER On June 12th, Shell contractors, aided by police, arrived unannounced to install a portacabin on to private land in Pollathomais. When landowner Paddy McGrath denied access to his property, in a typically overt display of their allegiance to corporate power, the police cut open the lock on the gate to allow Shell access to the land. Around sixty friends and neighbours of Mr McGrath attempted to prevent Shell’s entry. Some climbed on top of the digger while others stood together to hold the gate shut. The police acted swiftly and violently to facilitate entry to the land. People were pulled from the digger and the senior officer, Supt. Joe Gannon, instructed the driver to use the machine to force the gate open, trapping people between the gate and an embankment. A large number of people sustained injuries. The next day, following the threat of an injunction if they failed to remove the cabin from the land, Shell agreed it had been sited illegally and promised to remove it. Unfortunately, the removal of the cabin was not the end of the McGraths interaction with Shell’s boys in blue and over the following weeks the McGraths were subject to regular harassment and intimidation by the local police. Last week Paddy suffered a stroke and is now in intensive care. It was almost certainly stress related. In the final days of peat haulage, scenes at the morning picket became increasingly heated as the community responded to Mr McGrath’s hospitalization. There were repeated attempts to block the road, met with typical police brutality. In general, the policing approach seems to focus on violent removal of protesters rather than detention. An exception was a local lad who forced the police to carry out a muddy eviction after he had blocked the road by occupying one of the peat lorries. STILL BOGGED DOWN On Friday (29th) peat extraction from the site was completed. However, this only marks the beginning of the construction process and the battle is far from over. The community are as determined as ever to prevent the refinery’s development. Their experience of the past two years has seen faith in the democratic process tested to its limits and increasingly there is an acceptance of the need for a diversity of tactics if the development is to be stopped. As the construction phase begins it seems likely that direct action will increase. As a local resident told me, “We’ve had enough and I’d welcome anyone who wants to support us in preventing this development from going ahead.” Winters in Rossport are long and tough and continuing construction work in the depths of winter will be difficult. Consequently, it is vital for Shell to complete as much work as possible over the summer months. So, if supporting a community-led campaign to protect a pristine area, combinied with digger diving and blockading fun’n’games reminiscent of the 90s all set in a beautiful remote seaside location sounds appealing… the Rossport Solidarity camp welcomes visitors and is an excellent ‘busmans holiday’ destination this summer. Train fares from the UK to Ireland start at around £25 return….
* For more information contact Rossport Solidarity Camp – web www.struggle.ws/rsc |
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A recent Home Office review considered the distress children suffer in a deportation, recommending that kids shouldn’t be removed during school exams. It says “Consideration of proximity to key educational exams is ‘a factor which may be taken into consideration’ when determining the most appropriate timing for removal, but will not preclude removal. Removals can be extremely stressful to children and we are open to considering anything that would alleviate that.” Anything for the kids it seems - short of leaving them alone altogether.
The same review also tackled the real reason people feel so aggrieved when forcibly removed from their country of residence with the intention of sending them back to be imprisoned, tortured or live in poverty in an oppessive regime - it's the uniforms immigration officers wear!
Throwing out the rule book, built on intimidatory principles developed by various militaries down the years, they are now seeking tips from fashion designers when it comes to designing enforcement officer uniforms. Out are dark navy suits, in is something, er, softer, and ‘less intimidating to children’, like pastels. Several fashion designers in the uniform game give an insight into the state-of-the-art police state: Designer Susanne Malim, manager of a design company claims, “I equate deportation officers with traffic wardens, who have gone for a softer image now and look more like post office or delivery men, particularly in Kensington and Chelsea, where they’ve gone from navy to a soft khaki colour and Italian blouson. They look more approachable. Extreme tailoring depicts authority and aggression but soft lines and fabrics which move as you move is immediately more restful on the eye. While I can’t imagine many deportation officers wearing pink with the training they’ve had, grey, khaki, sand colour, or a washed out blue would be nice. Perhaps smiley badges too.”
It seems that when the knock on the door finally comes, you'll be so enchanted by the stylish cuts, complimentary shades and beautiful textures of the state goons that you'll be more than happy to round up the kids and let them escort you to the nearest airport, giving you tips on grooming and deportment...
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