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.

Deep Cover & Police Lies – Betrayers Anonymous.

I’ve the kind of brain which tends not to remember numbers,
but just once in a while a figure will stick with me.

Way back in 1970 there were 1 million people listed on Special
Branch files.

How large are these files now ?

I have no way of knowing.

In 1968 the Special Demonstration Squad was established by the
Special Branch to
“provide intelligence about protests and demonstrations .”

This unit included a group of full-time undercover police officers,
or
Agent Provocateurs.

We now know a lot about many of these undercover cops who
were active from 1984 onwards.

What we don’t know is just how many of there undercover cops
were in place during the late 1960s , the 1970s, and early 1980s.

Betrayers Anonymous.

I have been politically active since 1968,
and thus I must of meet some of these individuals.

Who might they of been?

I just don’t know.

With time it is going to become harder and harder to identify any
of the earlier undercover members of the Special Demonstration
Squad.

I can now only wonder just whom they might of been.

Just whom did I  ( and others ) trust,
only to feed lies,
while we were also spied upon ?

It leave me with a very nasty feeling that I and others have been
used.

If there is going to be any internal police or public enquiry in to
the covert activities of the Special Demonstration Squad,
then it should go back to 1968,
&
the results must be made public.

We all have the right to know.

Deep Cover & Police Lies – Bob.

Saturday was a very strange day for me,
as exposing an undercover cop to a conference of 300 people is
not exactly something which one does every day of the week.

Yesterday the following news story was flashed upon the front
page of the Guardian newspaper: –

Progressive academic Bob Lambert is former police spy.

Since then the story has been picked up by the rest of the media.

For example:
in the Daily Telegraph & Daily Mail,
which are two rags which I would not normally read.

In many ways what might now happen to Bob could be
considered a personal tragedy.

It should never be forgotten that he told lies,
spied upon my friends & comrades,
and directed other undercover police to do the same.

I was betrayed by Bob.

We were all betrayed by Bob.

Yet what Bob did was sanctioned at the very highest level of the
state.

I could write a lot more about Bob & the whole issue of the police
undercover work,
but there are a lot of journalists who are now about to do the same.

Thus I’ll not return to this subject until there really something new
to reveal.

On Record keeping & Getting Older.

Some times I thinks about people that I once knew.

It’s just like keeping a  scrapbook that’s full of obituaries,
or having a notebook full of information about missing people.

You may have them in your possession,
but fewer & fewer people you know will of meet the individuals
who are listed in them.

During this year this observation has really come home to me.

First of all I got a confirmation about someone I used to know
having died a few years back.

Then over the last month or so I have been trying to contact
someone who I last saw over a quarter of a century go.

I still can not trace her,
& I’ve tryed ever route which I know.

Over the 60 years that I have been alive we’ve moved on from
Paper & Card records, to Microfilm & Micrcofiche, and then to
electronic dates bases.

Yet just as we have moved on from mainframe to PC to laptop to
netbook, w e have & are constantly changing the software which
holds these records.

I just wish that some of the people who work on computer
software would keep in mind the old saying:-
If it ain’t bust then don’t fix it.

Yet with all of these moves of records have come losses of
information,
& the increasing presumption that ‘it’s all on the computer.’

Not so.

What makes it really difficult in tracing people is that they
might have common names,
or be know just by their nickname(s),
or changed their surname,
and now be living on the side of the world.

While the phone book, and  other directories, give just an initial
& surname on the basis that you will already know just where
they live.

Ever wondered just why the police are always so keen to know
peoples date of birth?

If more directories included this piece of information then it
would be so much easier to trace ones old friends.

In the meanwhile I’m left looking for other peoples scrapbook
which will supplement my own.

All At Play.

I’ve just spent 12 days in Denmark, and while in the country
managed to pay a visit to a toy shop.

What I do like about Danish Toy shops is that they have a large
number of model tractors and other pieces of farm equipment
for children to play with.

That I was really pleased to note upon this visit was a Lego
version of the Road Rail vehicle.

As you may recall:
The Road Rail Vehicle was developed by the Lucas Aerospace
shop stewards as part of an arms conversion project.

For more info on this See:
New Scientist – 20th November  1975.

What I also found of note upon my toyshop visit was a model
chainsaw.

It might be just the thing in the countryside,
but I wonder just what any inner city kid would think about it?

A Few Words Upon A Current Concern

To state that Nukiller Power is the solution to climate change
equates to the ecological equivalent of Holocaust Denial.

Just look at the facts.

The mining, transportation, and processing of uranium cause a
lot of climate change damage,
and that says nothing about the effects of radiation.

As I keep saying: –

The only long term solution to these problems comes with
Solar and wind power.

So Called Ecologists.

There is an old saying which likens ‘Fighting for Peace’ to that
of screwing for virginity.

There are co-called ecologists who claim that the problem of
climate change can only be solved by the use of nukiller
power.

They would seem to of forgotten that mining of Uranium,
and every thing else about nukiller power produces Climate
changing damage.

This says nothing of the other long term ecological mess
which nukes produce.

We can stop climate change
– by cutting our energy use,
– by building wind farms,
– by better insulation of our homes,
&
– reverse things by growing more trees.

What we can not do is work out how to safely store the
radioactive sludge which result from the use of nukiller
power,
or
guarantee to safeguard this very toxic waste into the coming
millenniums.

So when the likes of George Monbiot states that Nukes are the
answer to Climate change,
then all I can do is sing the words to that popular old song:
‘and the band played believe it if you can’.

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.

25 4 25

It was on December 15th 1985 that I first became a regular
volunteer with War Resisters International ( WRI ).

Being a volunteer does not mean that I do any of the exciting
project work, but it does involve me in working upon all of
these routine jobs around the office which need to be done in
order that WRI can function as a campaigning body.

If you have received anything in the post from WRI over the
last 25 years, then I might of worked on that mailing.

If you have been to any of the WRI gatherings over the last 25
years, then I would of been one of the  individuals who helped
print the background papers which you would of received for
the event.

I have also worked upon all of those unexciting, or repetitive
jobs which are needed in order to help support COs.

Aside from that I’ve keep the filing system up to date,
and helped out with many of these none project jobs which
keep the office functioning.

While many of these jobs are unexciting, they do require that I
have to know a lot in order to perform these tasks.

I keep coming in every week to do these tasks because they are
very necessary if we are going to build a Nonviolent society,
and will do so as long as this vital work needs to be done.

25 years is a long while to keep working this way,
and something which I want you all to celebrate with me.

So I’m asking you to participate in 25 4 25.

I’m asking that you too make a contribution to WRI by donating
25 units of your own local currency  in order to help fund this
work.

This could be in the form of 25 dollars, 25 Euros. 25 Krone, 25
pounds, 25 Yen, or 25 units of what ever your local currency
might be.

Just thinking it as giving something of what is a local for you
to the global work of WRI.

Promoting Wind Turbines.

The first time I saw a wind turbine in use was some 30 years ago, and all I could think of was WOW!
I still get those WOW! moments every time I see a wind farm in
action.

The really important thing to remember about windfarms is
that it is tried & tested technology which can help us solve the
problems we all face in terms of both nukiller power and
global warming.

The other important point about the use of wind turbines,
is they form a part of a decentralised solution to much of our
economic woes.

I also believe that it is really important to promote the use of
wind turbines,
and as a part of this effort I’ve put together a brief set of
links upon the subject.

Energy4all.

This will give you links to all of the ( windfarm ) energy
co-operatives within the uk.

Wind Power Monthly.

This is worth reading.


Wind Power Works

For some very good technical info for none techies you might
like to look at the Windpower website.

Marine Current Turbines.

This company has developed some really tidal power
technology.
There is also a very long history of the use of wind power which you might like to read about.

Poul La Cour

Poul La Cour was a pioneer of wind turbines.

He was also one of the greatest technologists of the
twentieth century.

You might also like to learn about his museum.

Once you know more about his work,
and all those have followed on from him,
then you too will go WOW!