Sheffield Newswire Archive

France is grinding to a standstill as millions of workers and students erupt in the streets at the government’s prposal to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. Across the Channel, the new Tory Chancellor has announced savage cuts in public expenditures that will slice away more than a million jobs, drive workers out of south east England and doom the country to years of austerity (unequally imposed, bien sur.) Yet the response has been muted.

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Today it is my real pleasure to submit to you the text of a Q&A I have had with "Lebanese Christian". One of the most misunderstood aspects of the socio-political reality of Lebanon is the fact that Hezbollah is very open to Christians as long as they are real Lebanese patriots and not proxies for Israel and the USA. I asked "Lebanese Christian" to comment on some of the aspects of the relationship between Christians and Hezbollah and he kindly agreed to reply to my question, for which I am deeply grateful to him.

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Major cuts are being made in health care, many of them the result of measures put in place under the previous Labour government of Gordon Brown. People are being denied essential treatments, condemning many to unnecessary suffering and even death.

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Britain’s Chancellor George Osborne has announced legislation that will penalise and force into destitution hundreds of thousands of the poorest people in Britain, who are dependent on welfare benefits.

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The British National Party (BNP) has confirmed it will hold its annual conference in South Derbyshire.

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major TUC organised rally but now with added feeder march from SWP led Right To Work network from Sheffield uni...

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Mildred Okpara and her three young children have been refused asylum and ordered to return to Nigeria next Monday 25th October. The family are at grave risk from the Nigerian separatist group, MASSOB (the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra). Mildred's partner was abducted and murdered by this group, who also attacked her baby son. If she is forced to return to Nigeria she is convinced that she and her children will be targeted and killed by MASSOB who continue to commit atrocities in the region. She is also terrified that her father will find her and insist that his granddaughters undergo female genital mutilation, a practice which is widespread amongst the Igbo community of which the family is a member.

Please write to David Blunkett, Theresa May, Nick Clegg and Paul Scriven (details below) to prevent the family's deportation. A sample letter is provided, but please write your own if possible.

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Announcements of the “reform” of university funding and public sector pensions and abolition of government quangos have been made in the run-up to the Conservative/Liberal Democrat government’s October 20 Comprehensive Spending Review.

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As you might expect, J7: The July 7th Truth Campaign is keeping a close
eye on 7/7 Inquests that are taking place at the Royal Courts of Justice
under the auspices of Lady Justice Hallett. The Inquests are expected to
last at least five months and will see the release of evidence that has
previously been kept from public scrutiny.

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Reflections on Anarchy and the Golden Age of Piracy

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The successful rescue of 33 Chilean miners, buried under tons of rock and rubble for nearly ten weeks, was a cause of celebration in the mining centers of Caldera and Copiapo, throughout Chile, and around the world, particularly in mining regions where workers and their families face the same dangers every day as their Chilean brothers.

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In its main editorial Sunday, the New York Times, the major voice of what passes for liberalism in America, openly defends the right of the US government to assassinate anyone it pleases.

The open reactionaries like the Wall Street Journal and Fox News display their bloodlust unashamedly. The “liberals” like the Times prefer a dose of hypocritical moralizing and legalistic quibbling. The consequences for humanity are the same.

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This is the actual 10-minute statement read by Richard Gage, AIA, to the media at the Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC on September 9, 2010.

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It is a duty for those with any "voice", from countries responsible for this first documentable U.S., U.K., genocide of the 21st century, to draw attention to it, in the memory of and in tribute to, the voiceless, nameless, uncounted victims, in the hope that eventually, legal recourse might result.

As Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, now seem to be in would be imperial sights, a precedent which will flag a up a warning sign to leaders of ill intent, is surely needed.

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This 10th anniversary episode of Unwelcome Guests, with Guest Presenter, Tereza Corragio, looks at the claim of US schools and colleges to serve the greater good of society. Are they in fact serving the greater wealth of CEOs by creating a pliable underclass who can be moulded according to the whims of capital? We recall Lyn Gerry's original mission for the show, and contrast that with the US education system. We start with two episodes of Third Paradigm about college financing, and read from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. In our second hour, we compare Jonathan Kozol's analysis of US schools with the similar, but more radical critique by John Taylor Gatto.

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A selection of images from Sheffield Free School, 8th -10th October

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The TUC have called a Yorkshire and Humber wide demo against the cuts on the 23 Oct, big players (TU bureaucrats?) such as Brendan Barber TUC boss are speaking, one hopes the service users, carers, claimants, pensioners, young people, rank and file public sector workers also get a chance to speak not just attend.

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PR 83 'The Minorca Opencast Mine experience is likely to be a longer term' blot on the landscape' says MOPG' accompanies the publication of our 5th set of objections to the Minorca Surface Mine Application on the effect this application would have on the local landscape and gives some of the detail contained in the submission as well as suggesting why the effect may be longer lasting.

It also announces the postponement of the Determination Date

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Attached is a recording of a discussion at the Sheffield Free School, recorded on 9th October 2010, discussing how can we bring about radical change in our society? It was advertised as a session to "Discover the approaches of different groups operating in Sheffield with a broadly common aim of creating more communal, fulfilling and sustainable ways of living, and discuss how we can help support each other by focusing on our shared objectives."

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Attached is a recording of a discussion at the Sheffield Free School, recorded on 9th October 2010, discussing What is a social centre? which was advertised as a session to "Share your views on what an autonomous social centre could be, what purposes it could serve, and why (or whether) it’s something worth putting a lot of energy into making happen."

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