Category: Issues

Going Underground Or Just Going Missing ?

A couple of years ago I put together a few notes for an article
about people who have to go and live underground,
or just go missing.

The idea of this article was to examine just how people might live
this way within an increasingly networked society.

In my notes I referred to Bob Robinson as B,
although I now know that his real name is Bob Lambert.

I never got much further than penning these few notes.

It is highly unlikely that I will ever complete this piece,
but you might find these notes of some interest.

– – – – – – – – – – – –  — — – — – — – — —

The Networked Society.

What ever happened to B?

We can all tell stories about people we spent some time with in ones younger years, but with whom we have lost contact.

B was someone that I knew as a political activist over a
quarter of a century ago. Over time I moved on and lost
contact with him.

Continue reading Going Underground Or Just Going Missing ?

Setting The Standards

There are some things which just annoy me,
those which worry me,
and others which really alarm me.

Fire extinguishers being used to prop doors open,
a failure to appreciate the importance of regular fire equipment
tests,
missed fire drills,
&
the failure to hold regular health and safety surveys combine all
of the above for me.

It is not because I’m worried about all the fire or Health and
Safety regulations as such.

It is not because I’m worried about complying with the legal
requirements to do so.

My concerns are far more fundemental than that.

It is because failing to deal with these things can result in either
someone being either killed or seriously injured.

Failures in the past.

It was a failure to deal with the dangers of fire in the past which
resulted in the kind of fire regulations which we now have in place.

For example: –

The Triange fire.

The Kings Cross fire.

The Tooley Street fire.

&

That at the Alhambra Theatre which resulted in the creation of theatre fire curtains.

It was also as a result of trade union action to save peoples lives
that these health and safety regulations came in to place in the first place.

This is an ongoing campaign.

Setting the standards.

We should not be forever going on about it’s a nuisance,
or costs too much money and time to do.

We should not just be complying with the various fire,
or Health & Safety standards.

We should  setting our own much higher standards.

This goes hand in hand with campaigning to improve what are in
the building regulions.

As radicals we should be working to create living spaces which
go way beyond the regulations,
and show just how this can be done.

Meanwhile in Cumbria.

Which brings me on to the very latest job vacancy for the
Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

It’s for a Health and Safety Officer based at Windscale/
Sellafield.

The best line in this ad being:

‘ We help keep the nation safe. You keep our people safe.’

Now how’s that for an interesting way of thinking?

Resisting the Olympics – A Resource List.

The 2012 Olympics are currently being built up by an
unprecedented media hype.

Yet there are many major objections as to how the event is being
run,  and just as many campaigners who are working to stop the
long lasting damage which it will create.


Background information and Resources.

This summer an army of occupation will take over the East End of
Cockneyland.

I refer to the army of  10,000 ‘security guards’,   7,000 military,
and the  large  number of extra police which will be in place
during this years Olympic event.

There are also many concerns about the way that this event will
both destroy many locally important ecological sites,
and how it will impact upon the civil rights of those who live in
the East End.

Resisting the Olympics.

The good news is that there are now a growing number of groups
and organisations which are countering the Olympics.

Here are a few links to these networks: –

– Games Monitor  – debunking Olympics myths.

– SAY NO TO LONDON 2012

– The New Lammas Lands Defence Committee

&

– NOGOE (No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events)

Resistance to the Multinational Sponsors.

The other really perturbing aspect of the Olympics is that it is
being sponsored by some of the worlds largest & most
irresponsible multi-nationals.

Rather that list them all:
here is a list of some campaigns which are working against them.

On BP – The UK No Tar Sands Network

On EDF –  Boycott EDF

On RTZ – Partizans (People against Rio Tinto and its Subsidiaries)

On Coca-Cola – No Sweat

On Muckdonalds – McCruelty

&

On Dow Chemical – The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) have also protested against this Dow sponsorship.

The 2012 Olympic games will be a disaster, and we should support all of these campaigns.


Vancouver 2010

There was also a lot of resistance to the
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC Canada.

There is a lot of information you can find online about just what happened during this event.

These include: –

– No One Is Illegal Vancouver!

&

– Resisting the Olympics Resources

The Last Rotten Borough – Part Two

Despite all of the various occupy protests of late.

I’m still waiting for someone to mount a serious campaign to curb the power(s) of those who run the City of London Corporation.

Here is a quote which says a lot about just why I hate the City of
London Corporation.

‘ Today, voting rights for the City of London’s municipal
authority are granted to its 32,000 businesses in addition to
residents which now number fewer than 12,000. ’

If you really want to see how this works out in practice,
then take a look at the City of London website.

What also gets me is the way in which people may obtain the
Freedom of the City.

Just how one may mount a serious campaign to challenge the
power(s) of the City of London Corporation is still open to
debate,
but challenged it must be.

A True Cockney

I was born ‘in the City of London in the City of London’,
or to be more exact
St Bartholomew’s (known as Barts) Hospital.

This means that I am a true Cockney as I was born within the sound
of Bow Bells.

Though it’s a long time since Barts has had a maternity unit,
and so there must be fewer & fewer cockneys.

My birth certificate reads:  ‘ Born in the City of London in the City of London’.

Thus I am a part of the last forgotten indigenous minority.

If I were able to afford to move back to the City of London,
then I would effectively be disenfranchised by the city vote.

That is why challenging the power(s) of the City of London
Corporation is very much one of my major concerns.

One World or Just One Long List.

I’ve noted on a lot of websites that people have a habit of
producing long lists of places they have travelled too.

We can all do the same I guess,
but I came up with the following list while thinking of
something else than just lists:-

The number of Embassies or National tourist offices I’ve
demonstrated outside of over the years.

This list includes such places as :-

Austria.
Australia.
China.
Czechoslovakia.
Denmark.
France.
Germany.
India.
Korea  ( South ).
Norway.
Portugal.
Russia.
South Africa.
Soviet Union.
Spain.
Turkey.
&
the USA.

I mention them all to illustrate my one world view of politics.

Whether it be Nukiller Power,
Militarism,
or
any form of exploitation:
the issues are always the same.

It matters not in which countries these problems occur.

All that matters is that they happen,
and that some of us are willing to do something about it.

Work Time – Study Time.

University education is not an automatic right,
but something which is a privilege.

In many parts of the world even the most rudimentary form of
education is something which a lot of people still strive for.

Those of us who are in our 60s & over can remember a time
when university was only available for those who came from a
wealthy background,
while the majority of the population started work at 15 or
earlier. Continue reading Work Time – Study Time.

Ever Heard About Young & Rubicam ?

It’s an adverting agency which has done work for the military.

Way back in September 1981 I co-wrote a
Greenpeace ( London ) factsheet upon the advertising agencies
which were then being used by the British military.

‘SOME BACKGROUND TO THE LAUNCHING OF A CAMPAIGN
AGAINST ADVERTISING AGENCIES
PROMOTING THE MILITARY AND THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY.’

Thing change and so have some of the contracts.

Here is an example of just how things have changed:

British Army seeks digital agency

Now here is where Young & Rubicam yet again come in to the
picture.

I’m thinking that it’s now about time that some more attention
was paid to what some of these adverting agencies,
are doing for the military in both Britain and the USA.

That might involve me in a little more research in to just what
they are all up to these days.

Just watch this space . . . . .

The Season of Gloom and Despondency.

I think that in most ways I’m a happy bunny,
but……….

If there is one thing which really leaves me feeling very
depressed, then it is everything which surrounds the xmas
period.

This is in part because of the way in which the jesus myth is
propagandised,
and in part because of the way in which the unbridled feast of
consumerism is celebrated.

What makes this even worse is to see those who can least
afford it go on an xmas spending spree, and then find that they
land up with enormous personal debts.

What people need to remember is that there is a major
difference between I need and I want.

If I want to give my friends presents,
then I’ll do it when I want to do so though out the year.
and not just because we have reached some speculative
anniversary date.

It’s all about wanting to do something,
rather that feeling a social pressure to do so.

The other thing which gets me is the way in which a lot of
public transport services close down for anything up to 56
hours.

Like great !

– Here we are forced to take some time off work,
and we can not get away from our homes.

– So much for the excuse that we are all having time off work
in order to see ones family and friends.

If only …….. !

The only good thing about the whole situation is that it gives
me some time to catch up with my various projects,
and do some spring cleaning at home.

Oh happy days!

We talk about living within a 24/7 society,
but this only extends to 365 days minus one week in the year.

I look forward to the time when the whole xmas holiday
season is something which is confined to the history books.

Roll on !

Pugalism.

Pugalism is a brutal activity.

Pugalism is a health and safety Issue.

We have known for decades that boxing can result in brain
damage.

You wouldn’t go on to a building site without a hard hat,
just in case you might be hit on the head.

Yet why do we still allow people to be hit around the head in
the name of sport?

For years people have been campaigning to end this so called
sport.

Is it not about time that boxing became declassified as an
official activity at all future Olympic events?

An Inequitable Taxation.

Be it the window or Poll tax,
the question as to what is an equitable or a reasonable
taxation has always excited a lot of protest.

That is why the question of tax exceptions is one which should
concern us all.

We all think that we are over taxed,
but just how many of us think about how just the payment or
none payment of taxation may be.

At present within Britain all religious comminutes are except
from paying any council ( local authority ) tax.

While most of the churches or religious bodies are registered
as Charities,
and thus gain many tax advantages.

Yet Pacifist bodies, ecology action groups have to pay their
taxes in full.

Why should this be so?

Because under the present law Churches are deemed as being
charitable bodies,
while Pacifist and Eco action organisations are considered to
be ‘political’.

If a group of atheists were to establish a community or body to
combat the extremes of any religion, then they would not be
able to be registered as a charity,
or get all of the tax benefits which go with this.

That would be deemed to be a political activity.

Yet Religious bodies who campaign against good atheist values
do get these various tax benefits.

Now just tell me that this is not political?

This makes no sense at all,
as all religions involve themselves in politics,
even if they hide it with the expression:
‘ Spreading the word of god ‘.

Just to take two examples:
– They campaign against the rights of women to make their own
decisions upon contraception and abortion.
&
– Interfere upon just what may or may not be taught within our
schools.

Just look at the website for the
Charity Commission for England and Wales
and you will see just how many religious bodies are registered
as charities.

This includes such controversial bodies as the
Universal Church Kingdom of God.
A church whose activities has aroused a lot of concerns over
the last few years.

On the other hand we have the case of many pacifists who are
taken to court for refusing to pay any war taxes.

This is despite the fact that Pacifists have a legal right to
exercise a conscientious objection to conscription.

Clearly there is an urgent need to change this system,
and give one the right to exercise a conscientious objection to
all war taxes.

Though the long term aim should really be to abolish all
military organisations.

Equally importantly: –
The whole question as to the charitable status of all religious
bodies should be examined,

They should be made to take pay their share of the tax burden,
as it is inequitable that we should all be forced to subsidise
them this way.