Around one thousand climate activists have been attempting to shut down Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power station in Nottinghamshire, taking direct action with repeated breaches of the security fencing. [Pics 1 | 2 ][ Video ]. The action comes only weeks before the UN COP15 Climate Conference in Copenhagen, and follows the arrest of 114 activists allegedly planning to infiltrate the power station in April.
More info: Notts IMC timeline | Swoop Live Coverage | 2 | #Swoop Twitter | Climate Camp Twitter | Swoop Flickr Pics | CC Galleries | Swoop Videos| Mainstream TV Reports
Previous coverage: Mass Arrest of 114 Climate Activists in Raid | No case to answer after Notts E.On protest | Fossil Fools Take On E.On In Nottingham | Convictions For Activists - Climate Criminals Walk Free | 'Clean' Coal On Trial | Climate Activists Bring Powerstation Operations To A Halt | Spring Into Action Now!
Links: The Great Climate Swoop | Climate Camp
Comments
Hide the following 54 comments
TV reporting Gatley Funeral
17.10.2009 14:02
@boyz
Drax left online during protest
17.10.2009 16:24
Why the difference - is this a case of overconfidence? Or is it that it's autumn?
CoalMan
Police airlifted to Derby
17.10.2009 17:13
Live reporting showing night falling and current calm.
Plenty of pictures showing steam coming from stacks - propaganda central!
Bash
Not necessarily
17.10.2009 17:34
Stroppyoldgit
Fact
17.10.2009 19:26
your facts are wrong, firstly Drax was not taken offline during the Kingsnorth protest and secondly staff have not slept overnight.
biomass man
@biomass man - your 'facts' are wrong
17.10.2009 20:39
yawn
fact
17.10.2009 22:52
biomass man
FT.com article on Orwellian filming of protestors by police
17.10.2009 22:57
Thought it was an interesting, left-field article.
adelayde
i was there - it was good
17.10.2009 23:07
well done to the crew that took the bolt croppers off the copper who was at the top of the fence! Brilliant! and stay strong to those that got nicked...and well done to everyone for getting there and being organised.........
Actually, thats not quite it, because i must admit im a tad p'd off with camp for climate change for stating they hoped the copper with the head injury was doing ok and seperating themselves from those of us that confronted the pigs physically......for hecks sake, we're only trying to stop coppers from bashing the fluffies!!! we're on the same side, aren't we? i went with the full intention of ignoring the pigs and watching the unfolding brilliance of my concerned comrades.....but after seeing the pigs act violent, by slashing at people, hitting them stomping on them and ragging them around, well, lets just say im not going to put up with that shit!
am i wrong for these views? should i stay away from these events?
and are my climate fluffy comrades trying to apply ghandi-ism to a situation where the police will always out move us (and beat us and kill us, see bishopsgate/ian tomlinson??)? i see this as a war, and in war people get hurt. on both sides.......not one fucking news agency has so far reported that it was a medic from OUR side that treated the collapsed copper. i saw it. so they lie and conceal the truth of our actions...so why should we bother associating them as just doing their job? i cant stand the police, but i also dont want to piss off the fluffies, because, essentially, their the biggest bloc of the whole alternative globilisation struggle. but for me, i will always believe they, our fluffy friends, require a militant wing, as it were...and i often see that responsibility resting with our anarchist mates...those that are not afraid of meeting police violence with our own physical justice.
(also, i dont think the copper went to hospital because he got hit, i think it was exhaustion/heat.)
please will somebody offer me there opinion? i'd like to discuss this, if anyone gives a toss.................x
leds
e-mail:
cophaternumber1@live.com
Homepage:
http://eye8eon.wordpress.com
@biomass man
18.10.2009 01:00
read the comments again
MEDIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!
18.10.2009 02:01
Bit of a contradiction no? But then all of us, whichever sides, these ways or that, are living with contradictions.
Anyway, that's a sideshow (apart from Indymedia and 2 freelance tog types reporting the truth of it).
COP15?
candle power
What isw the end result?
18.10.2009 09:42
Drax remaining online throughout and EoN making Churchillian pronouncements about battling to keep the lights on.
All in all a PR disaster undoing all the gains of Kingsnorth.
End Result
what do the broader public see?
18.10.2009 11:41
francis
leds
18.10.2009 11:44
francis
The end result
18.10.2009 12:34
Of course, as usual, the only violence was from police hitting protesters and setting dogs on them. Yes, there were some other minor injuries, including some police officers - but what do you expect when hundreds of people are trying to pull fences down, and hundreds of cops are trying to stop them? There's inevitably going to be some pushing and shoving, and some bumps and bruises. That's not the same as "violent clashes", and it's sad that, once again, the police have spun this line and the journalists have gleefully cut and pasted it into their articles
Nonetheless, this was a fantastic action. Positive media coverage is nice when we can get it - it helps to draw more people into the movement - but even when we're misreported, we're having some really important effects:
- Economic and reputation damage to E.ON (huge security costs, plus being continually associated with giant filthy coal power stations rather than renewable energy)
- A demonstration of the strength of public feeling on this issue - 1,000 people turned up, and the great majority went to the fences and got stuck in! Even if some members of the public shake their heads at our tactics, they're still left with the impression that climate change is such a serious issue that large numbers of people are prepared to break into power stations and get arrested in order to stop it. Rather than climate change being a problem you can solve by buying new lightbulbs.
- Inspiration to our exciting, growing movement. The people that were there, and the people that couldn't make it but read the action reports online and watched the videos - once you experience this stuff, you realise how powerful we really can be. If the cops hadn't been there, we could have easily got into that place and shut it down. Hopefully, lots of people will starting thinking about that and making secret plans of their own...
As for "the other side" - presenting the alternatives - we DO say all that stuff to the papers but they generally don't bother printing it. We tend to have more luck with TV and radio, when we can get live coverage and say what we like! But in any case, the alternative arguments are out there and spreading, and there are plenty of other people besides the direct activists putting out the radical messages...we're just one part of the picture, but an important one.
Swooper
Strategy... what strategy? We just slung them to the fences and hoped to win!
18.10.2009 12:44
This sort of illogical planning happened 93 years ago, but back then they called it the Battle of the Somme. Waves of people who simply stood little chance were slung against the enemy lines by those controlling them, there was little regard for their safety they were simply told to charge.
Whilst nobody died yesterday (thankfully), it's easy to see the parallels between current thinking within the climate change movements and the illogical thinking of military planners from First World War. You cant simply sling handful after handful of people against the enemy lines and hope they manage to cross it.
You need to update your tactics and accept the consequences of your actions, your boasts that we will close this power station by simply charging it echo the propaganda that was spread by the British & French generals less than 100 years ago. Your numbers are not sufficient to fight toe to toe with the police, you need to get creative and switch to other tactics. Lest you repeat the mistakes of those that went before you. Stop manipulating protesters for your own selfish egos.
Colonel Mustard
Major Economies Forum meeting is in London not in Ratcliffe-on-Soar
18.10.2009 14:18
Today (Sunday) and tomorrow, the useless Labour Minister Ed Miliband is hosting the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate meeting in preparation for the Copenhagen conference i.e. to make most of the decisions before that conference even starts.
"The 17 major economies participating in the Major Economies Forum are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Denmark, in its capacity as the President of the December 2009 Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations have also been invited to participate in this dialogue."
Guess where all the lobbyists from the energy companies and other vested interests are ?
Are they in Ratcliffe-on-Soar or are they wining and dining and schmoozing the delegates, politicians , civil servants and their hangers on in London ?
Why are the climate camp activists not tracking and lobbying these people in London, instead of fighting with the Police in Nottinghamshire ?
Fuel Protestor
e-mail:
info@fuel-crisis.org.uk
Homepage:
http://Fuel-Crisis.org.uk
end result seconded
18.10.2009 15:32
Let's not kid ourselves Swooper; 1,000 people is not a demonstration of the strength of public feeling on the issue. I could walk round my neighbourhood and collect over a thousand signatures calling for the imprisonment of all the protesters within a couple of hours.
Who organised this idiotic action? Might as well have been the state. Talk about alienating the public! Winning public support by cutting off their power? Wow, what a stroke of genius.
Look, I know this isn't very constructive of me unless I pose credible alternatives, but if we're going to take direct action (and yes I do believe we should), please let us choose our targets more thoughtfully. Off the top of my head, it seems to me that occupying relevant ministries or offices when relevant ministers or CEOs are present will make the same points as this action, without the downside of alienating the energy using public (of which I am a member). 1,000 people is a drop in the ocean compared to the numbers of people who need to be galvanised and mobilised for any action on this issue to be successful. I know it isn't easy, but we need to be much more creative, imaginative and bolder in our tactics. Goodness knows I've tried (and failed) to come up with better alternatives, but there has to be a better way.
surface tension
to francis and colonel mustard.
18.10.2009 16:33
colon musetard: you're an idiot. simple as that. were you even there? people did not charge police lines, they got to the fence and the police moved in around us/them, at various times. listen, we could have got in easily, but not everyone was pulling at the fences, but we were there, and i saw the look of fear and apprehension in everyone's face...but only the faces of people working for and protecting E.ON
and my site is obviously anti-eon....thats why its called eye8eon....because i hate e.on!!
leds
e-mail:
eye8on@live.com
Homepage:
http://www.eye8on.wordpress.com
voices of truth is wrong...again
18.10.2009 16:41
- 100's of millions of dollars/pounds/euros spent "battling" anarchists, socialists.communists, greens, apoliticals and radicals, every year, constantly.
- false imprisonment, arrest and detention on crazy, often trumped up charges.
- disproportionately sentenced in courts for "small" crimes like criminal damage, or basic vandalism
- police spying, mi5 spying, infiltration, informing and intelligence gathering ( see my site for guardian article on e.on being given police intelligence about activists)
- clear antagonism toward alternative globilisation activists, where as other protesters about other politics and issues dont face as much severity at the arms of the law and army (im talking world wide, here)
- the murders of carlos guliani, alex grigolopolous and countless others at the hands of anti-anarchist police (and subsequent retaliation by their "comrades")
i could go on.....
...still think its not a war?
leds
e-mail:
eye8eon@live.com
Homepage:
http://www.eye8eon.wordpress.com
Response to surface tension
18.10.2009 17:54
The fact that 1,000 people are prepared to be arrested for breaking into a power station is a HUGE statement of public feeling. Can you think of many issues where that many people would be prepared to put their liberty on the line in a mass display of disobedience? Can't you see how much more powerful that is than names on a petition?
It's dead easy to sign a piece of paper - and millions of people have done just that in the name of climate change - but it takes far more than that to take this kind of action. It means people have become so passionate, so convinced of the urgency of the situation, that they're willing to break all their cultural programming, to defy the boundaries we're brought up to believe, and to start acting in a way that is contrary to the accepted rules laid down by society and state.
Direct activists always form just the tip of the iceberg in any movement. The fact that thousands of people in the UK are now ready to break the law to tackle climate change is a sign that there are millions who support the cause, actively or passively, whether they believe in direct action tactics or not. The Government know this, corporations know this, and THAT's what I mean by "strength of public feeling"!
Also, please don't fall for the corporate spin - shutting down Ratcliffe would not have interrupted anyone's power supply, there's plenty of slack in the National Grid. The only victim of a Ratcliffe shutdown would be E.ON's profit margin. In fact, the station was probably off, or on minimum burn, throughout the whole Swoop - there wasn't any smoke coming out of the main stack after noon on Saturday...
We need to target the fossil fuel infrastructure, the offices of the decision-makers, the financial institutions, it all helps - get some friends together, do some research, check out all the amazing online activist advice and training, and go for it!
Swooper
not a war
18.10.2009 18:11
A war has aeroplanes, tanks and artillery. And lots of bullets flying everywhere.
This is more just a fence and herding a few people around. Its more like basic security than a war
I think a lot of it is paranoia as well. In the form of "all people that disagree with me are policemen". Im not a policeman, i'm a "normal" person that doesnt frequent protests or anarchists things so I am more impartial to judge this. If you are in/out of prison for petty crimes then you are not normal.
Voice of the truth
By definition,
18.10.2009 18:41
silver spoon
Stop talking War
18.10.2009 20:20
If we call it a War then we lost the war
No one in the control room
No one on the Heaps
No one on the conveyor belt
No one in the site (am I wrong on this one?)
We need to start presenting this in a different light...
Swoopy
114 and preemptive arrests
18.10.2009 20:49
"Our information was that it wasn't to be a lawful protest. This was to be a criminal act against a power station.
"Had that taken place, we would have now been policing a major protest at a major power station."
(Source:
Well, for their pains, they got their major operation anyway, at a cost of £1/2 million, I heard on the TV.
Going back to Ratcliffe was politically important in terms of showing that we will not be intimidated, and that aggressive operations by a given police force can have negative consequences for that force. (Same goes for companies.)
squatticus
@ leds
18.10.2009 20:49
An idiot of the highest degree you most certainly are. This 'protest' achieved absolutely nothing other than alienating yourself from the general public. Or had you forgotten that to fight climate change you need a mass movement? 1,000 people using compost toilets and eating garden grown potatoes just doesn't cut it I'm afraid. The very people you need to recruit now simply think you're nothing more than rabble seeking to damage property. 1,000 people aren't going to stop climate change, a staggering proportion of people in this country still don't even believe climate change exists. I set you a task should you choose to accept it, go out into your local town and actually ask bog standard members of the public what they think of climate change. I assure you that the majority of responses will claim it's a government conspiracy to raise taxes. You do not have the necessary support nor numbers to carry out these sorts of actions, the fact that your numbers are so small further alienates you and plays into the hands of your opponents as they get to portray you as the extremist fringe minority.
Your tactics failed, the sooner you accept this and stop umming and arring about your non existent victory the sooner you'll come up with more effective methods.
Colonel Mustard
"Colonel Mustard"
18.10.2009 21:16
In fact, since you don't dispute that climate change is a problem, the onus is on you to tell us what tactics would better or accept that those employed were in fact the best.
Not that they necessarily were the best, but you have failed to show that they weren't.
"Put up or shut up", as less polite person than me might put it.
squatticus
@ squatticus
18.10.2009 22:10
Take inspiration from the actions of underground activists until your numbers improve. It'd have been much more effective had you got a smaller group of activists together, not advertised your intentions to the police before hand, snuck in using the plentiful available cover taking advantage of the lax regular security, and then utilised your sabotage techniques once inside.
At least then it'd take a while for the cops to arrive with the necessary cutting equipment to get any locked on activists out. And during the time you could have sabotaged the equipment til your hearts content. 1,000 people isn't enough to 'rush' a power station given that you informed the security services of your intentions before hand.
It's not difficult to come up with other tactics, take inspiration from the actions against Glensanda or other campaigns around the UK. If you intend to sabotage something you don't inform every tom, dick, and harry before hand unless you want a stern beating and a good bite on the leg from a police dog.
Colonel Mustard
colon musetard
18.10.2009 22:48
Since around summer 2000, the british government has introduce what can only be stated as several, unjust and draconian laws and measures aimed at nothing more than subjugating and criminalising the fight against climate crime and other protest movements and causes. Now you either supprt our brave efforts, or you f**k off.
Our friends and loved ones have faced violence, imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, brute force from the state, i personally have had a crown court trial with no jury for a crime i didn't commit, and various other political and legal lashings at the hands of the state.
So don't lecture me on tactics and law and order and politics..I've worn the t-shirt and recycled it.You'll never change my mind.
ITS A WAR.
leds
e-mail:
eye8eon@live.com
Homepage:
http://eye8eon.wordpress.com
@ Colonel Mustard
18.10.2009 23:15
...
@ ... and leds
19.10.2009 00:39
Whilst I did say you need to get the public on board, my post was a response to other tactics that could have been used in the place of a mass (albeit small one) rush were direct action to go ahead regardless.
If ones stated intentions are to close the power station, as was stated in many sources prior to the event. Surely the best methods to use are ones which do not advertise your intentions lest you give your enemy time to prepare. For instance if I was planning to rob a bank, I wouldn't inform the police beforehand of my actions giving them plenty of time to arrive before myself would I? If my stated objective is the robbing of the bank I'd go out of my way to plan in secret in order to ensure that my operation was a success. I certainly wouldn't create a media fanfare about it. Now back to the stated intention of shutting down power station, applying the same logic it is simple to see is it not that if one seeks to accomplish their intended objective that they shouldn't give the police a chance to prepare?
In my opinion the advertising of action before it is to take place is suspicious, it seems that one is seeking attention and jeopardizing the success of the intended action in return for the satisfaction of the ego.
@ leds, you're just waffling boring crap now. I am not the enemy nor the state, far from it. A critique of an unsuccessful action might sting the egos of some but it is valid none the less. If one fails in their intended objectives it is best not to repeat those failings again, instead of ranting about how I'm an 'enemy' perhaps you should take my posts on board and learn from yesterdays unsuccessful actions. Or do you intend to jeopardize more activists by throwing them to the truncheons and waiting police dogs?
Why the need to post irrelevant information pertaining to your past court cases is anyone's guess, perhaps you feel the need to justify yourself and boast your credentials?... Who knows.
Colonel Mustard
The Battle of the Fence
19.10.2009 07:00
Pheme
Not enough masks
19.10.2009 09:15
The filth were yelling about criminal damage and filming continuously.
The EDO protesters learnt early on that they will film, id from the footage then nick you later - we even ended up on crime-watch!
Mask Up
and stretchy rope bad
19.10.2009 09:45
badder
"War" is for agents provocateurs
19.10.2009 12:45
Activists are in struggle with the cops, and no doubt the Security State is the enemy of all of us, activists and ordinary folk together. But it's not a war, and talk of war just gives the Security State carte blanche to wield the iron fist.
The closest we've come to a 'war' of people vs State was the '84 Miners Strike, when there was real violence by the State against miners and their supporters, and some miners to their eternal credit fought back even though unarmed. Even then it wasn't a 'war', but rather a vicious open class struggle, and one which the working class lost for all sorts of reasons, not least that the State is always better at violence than the opposition. A small number of "fluffies" (nice name for the lentil & brown rice lot :o)) being beaten by cops is reprehensible, but isn't in the same ball park as open class struggle. Get a grip and a sense of proportion.
Gerry
e-mail:
gerry.gerbil@gmail.com
Gutts
19.10.2009 12:48
silver spoon
Gerry
19.10.2009 12:56
What happened to the security guard stabbing people in the hand with a knife?
silver spoon
Re: battle of the fence
19.10.2009 13:46
And yeah, it's really dodgy that hardly anyone was wearing masks. :/
Kia
@ gerrry and colon musetard and their ilk.....
19.10.2009 18:37
if you think me an extremist, then good, my work is being done accordingly. check out my website, eye8eon.wordpress for more of the same, if you desire. Im not afraid of dialogue.
(also, to who ever cares, i mentioned my trial, becasue it was WITHOUT a jury under terrorism law for a crime I DID NOT COMMIT. is that not related, being that it was whilst being detained during protests in the city of london 2001?)
PS. At ratcliffe, I was masked up but was threatened with arrest at various stages, stopped and searched and chased! always mask up!! i agree.
leds
e-mail:
eye8eon@live.com
Homepage:
http://eye8eon.wordpress.com
photogs and flashes
19.10.2009 20:02
Take them off. They are completely pointless in that environment, its still going to be a hard light source and just sucks up a load of the flash power which is the one thing you want outside in broad daylight. A diffuser is to turn a flash from a cone of light into a bulb, so it can bounce off the surrounding walls and create a soft light from many directions. They aint gonna happen outdoors in a field. If you want soft light in the open, you need to use an umbrella
Cardigan
Climate Swoop 2009
19.10.2009 22:20
1) Protestors did not get to site to their targets
2) Did not shut Ratcliffe down
3) Did not blockade
4) Was online producing electricity (to our customers) when required
and finally - WE WON!!!!!
Coal_I_Burn
Re: Coal I Burn
19.10.2009 23:21
Kia
we won, because of one fact...
20.10.2009 07:18
and countless other company's share prices fall when we attack them and their sites and offices. So, coal i burn...you dont know what you're talking about. four people minimum got into the site, i saw them with my own eyes. no cars or trucks could get in or out, so E.ON were beseiged, i think the word is... the entire site was at our mercy, thats why they needed 600 police to protect them!
the look in the police officers face through out the day was, "we're out of a depth with these activists" and the only why they could react was with state sponsored violence.
so, we won, actually, we won.
check out my blog, eye8eon.wordpress.com for more anti-E.ON FACTS and opinions......
well done to all the people that turned up to beseige those climate criminal bastards!
leds
e-mail:
eye8eon@live.com
Homepage:
http://eye8eon.wordpress.com
Re:colonel mustard(publicity of event) & Surface tension(public feeling).
20.10.2009 14:15
It is to be open and say to the public, we are proud to do what we are doing and that this is now an issue that affect all of us. this is not just some minority groups pet hate.
The state and police want to criminalise this sort of action so making it all the time private can seem like a justification of that. It is to say we are not criminals and we know who is.
Of course in a practical sense it could be more affective as a non-public action cause the police wouldn't have been there blah blah, but that is not the point!!!
sorry if I have kinda repeated the point but its just to be as clear as possible.
I personally think that it should have coincided with less public actions else where but hind-sight is a wonderful thing.
'Swooper', I agree, to sign a petition is like blowing your nose, it doesnt take any real commitment more than commiting to move your hand to your snoz or to a piece of paper which ever one you might be doing. to have a thousand people commit to face police and being arrested is really quite something.
swoopist
share price
20.10.2009 16:45
and its risen today also
sky
share price has fell, actually
20.10.2009 19:24
leds
e-mail:
eye8eon@live.com
Homepage:
http://eye8eon.wordpress.com
Swoop?
20.10.2009 19:24
Hmmmm!
hmmmffff
20.10.2009 21:34
it closed at 39.10 yesterday, and closed at 39.60 today. So its up by 0.50 today (1.28%)
Daily prices are always definied as the market closing price, not opening times. I think you'll just looking at differences in the open and close prices for today not realising it gapped up at the opening price.
anyway micro changes arnt predictable otherwise we would all be millionaires. The medium term trend is obviously going upwards. By definition, that will remain true until a lower-low and a lower-high occurs. And most prices follow the market's index price anyway so if the price goes up or down it probably just because the whole market has has moved that way. No one stock is an island, they all move in tandem in general terms.
sky
@ SKY
21.10.2009 08:28
THIS IS CORRECT AS OF THE TIME OF MY INITIAL SHARE RELATED COMMENT THE OTHER DAY:
Detailed E.On AG Share Price Data
Share Price € 26.14 Price Down Close € 26.14
Change Today -€ 0.44 Volume 17,026,274
Percent Change -1.66% Day High / Low € 27.11 / € 25.99
Update Time 17:35:18 Year High / Low € 32.90 / € 18.19
Bid € 26.08 Last Trade Price € 26.14
Offer € 26.09 Last Trade Amount 2,005,853
Open € 26.89 Last Trade Time 17:35:18
Detailed E.On AG Share Price Changes
Period Price Change Percent Change
1 week € 27.89 -€ 1.75 -6.27%
it clearly shows a 6.27% drop the last week.
or am i blind?
And also, why are you so concerned in trying to prove that e.on didn't lose value over the last week?
leds
e-mail:
eye8eon@live.com
Homepage:
http://eye8eon.wordpress.com
security
21.10.2009 09:49
Kia, if you don't want to risk your personal security perhaps you shouldn't be pulling down fences in front of 30+ protester/journalist/police cameras with your face uncovered.
People took part in an open demonstration: no-one (apart from the police) asked not to be filmed. What's the point of a protest if it isn't publicised?
pheme
why argue?
21.10.2009 15:45
It’s all very well saying the swoopers should have done this, or should not have done the other. That they gave the wrong message and so on.
Correct me if I am wrong, but the decisions were made by consensus at public meetings. I was at black heath, I attended swoop planning meetings and I was at the swoop. If you have problems with the way it was planed where were you when we were planning it?
We all see much clearer with hind sight, but criticising the efforts of so many dedicated people is pointless and counter productive. I say a big well done to everyone one involved success or not (and it was a success). Sure constructive criticism is welcome, but if you don’t like the way something is done, just get involved had have your say. That’s why it is run the way it is. Otherwise, shut the fuck up.
justanothergeek
iraq deportations protest at parliament - video
21.10.2009 16:16
indefilms
e-mail:
indefilms@excite.com
responses
21.10.2009 16:59
Francis - you can't expect the mainstream media to report our message, the "second half" as you called it, unless we're unexpectedly lucky; there's no way I know of to change this really. The lights wouldn't go out - you are just swallowing the EOn PR.
A mass movement isn't going to come about in time, even if it could then take radical enough action, moving beyond lightbulbs and recycling, for us to survive on this planet - so stop waiting and start taking action!
Colonel Mustard - it's not such a hierarchy, nor manipulation, but I agree it was a bit daft IF the realistic intention was to close it down; a dozen people did that unannounced more successfully the other year. Also, we wont' get enough numbers by sitting talking, and I hope that last weekend took us much further along the line of building a capacity for more people taking proportionately appropriate direct action, ie people were cool and full-on in what they did (even if a bit daft not masking up, whilst cutting things, etc). And your comments are an excuse for inaction, simple as that - we don't have that luxury. I do agree with your support for smaller covert affinity group actions, and their effectiveness.
Kia - you seriously believe that posting a link here to something so publically available and linked up already makes any difference to the cops seeing it?!
Pheme - you can have a public protest and still be masked up!! It's daft to cut things with your face uncovered if any cameras are in the area! Take June 18th 1999 in the City of London. Masks were given out to all, it was a highly publicised action, and £2 million pounds worth of damage (plus police costs etc etc) was done.
sky falling down
More criticism please
21.10.2009 21:00
get buried. So next time, there they are again. Lets have them all out here.
Stoop to swoop