Shout in Peace

Well, before this blog turns into a forum for cute kitty pictures and discussions about how much cat food is needed, I think it’s time to return to some more globally pressing issues.

Just over a week ago I posted about the Camp for Climate Change taking place at Heathrow on the 14^th – 21^st August 2007. Calvin Jones from Climate Change Action Group then posted an article explaining the reasoning behind this years Camp, their aims and philosophy. In addition Calvin’s blogs provide up to date information on campaigns at the main group and in Scotland and resources. If Climate Change is something you feel strongly about then I urge you to take a look at the article and the blogs.

But if for a moment we imagine one of those wavy flashbacks to the week before last, the biggest problem about this Camp was BAA’s abuse of the law to try to silence peaceful protest; however as Mr. Jones pointed out BAA did not succeed, the Camp is still going to take place and in fact so unsuccessful was BAA’s initial action that the named protesters in the original injunction can still take part lawfully. So, one would think that for once campaigners had won a victory over big business.

Unfortunately, it seems that the world does not reserve such kind surprises, on Saturday I read that up 1,800 extra officers had been drafted to police the event and were being encouraged to use section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Section 44 gives the police powers to:

· Stop and search people and vehicles for anything that could be used in connection with terrorism

· Search people even if they do not have evidence to suspect them

· Hold people for up to a month without charge

· Search homes and remove protesters' outer clothes, such as hats, shoes and coats.

Well, perhaps using a Terrorism law is not so far fetched in this case, after all it is companies like BAA and the ilk that are terrorising the whole world with the short-sighted policies thus causing irrevocable damage on the planet we all share. But has BAA won?

This morning I read:

In four minutes and 30 seconds yesterday, two double-storey scaffolding tripod towers were erected and a banner slung between them. Within the hour, up to 150 people had come and were unloading pallets, tents, compost toilets, wind turbines, kitchens and bikes.

Camp for Climate Change started two days early and arrived before the Police did! Some protestors have already been stopped by the police, but at the moment all seems well with some policemen pointing out that they do actually agree with the camp.

So please, if there is an issue you care about SPEAK OUT. Time and time again popular peaceful protest (with minor disruptions) has proved to be successful and now with web platforms such as these we are even more able to disseminate information. So let’s do it while we still have the chance. Last week I also read that the MoD had put in place new restrictions on what the Armed Forces can publish on Blogs, e mails, websites and text messages!

And lastly Tony Wilson died at the age of 57 on Thursday night of a heart attack after battling kidney cancer. As the founder of Factory records, my hat goes off to him for creating the most fabulous record sleeves that had me sneaking into my big bros room to stroke them while blaring out Joy Division, as I sat nodding my head and being all morose.

Stand up for your right to Camp

That’s right, me who hates camping says, 'Stand up for your right to CAMP!'

The Camp for Climate Change is going to be somewhere in the vicinity of Heathrow Airport on the 14^th – 21^st August 2007. The Camp for Climate Change is an awareness raising activity which aims to make customers flying out of Britain this summer aware of the damage CO₂ is causing to the environment and the part that air traffic has to play in that. I’m not sure how much awareness will be raised at the airport when little Jimmy has run off with his brother’s PS2 and the lady with the highlights in front is having a hissy fit because she can’t take the ten litres of gunk she spreads all over her face in her hand luggage, but that’s not my point. My point is that BAA tried to stop the whole thing. BAA, a huge airport authority making mega wonga took on three individuals and took them to court under some ‘harassment’ law and said they would disrupt the running of the airport. The harassment law that BAA’s many lawyers spent many hours discovering to stop this planned bedevilment taking place on their hallowed grounds is intended to be used to stop ‘stalkers’ and the likes. Seeing as BAA is not strictly speaking ‘a person’ but a huge corporation I do not entirely understand who John Stewart (of the Heathrow Campaign Against Aircraft Noise) and Josh Garman and Leo Murray (of the anti-aviation group Plane Stupid) were supposed to be stalking. Unfortunately, they will now not be taking part in The Camp for Climate Change, but many others will be. George Monbiot’s article is far more eloquent than mine, but I agree when he says that this isn’t only about protecting the planet we live on, but protecting our democratic voice. If we allow big businesses to deny us of our freedom of speech we might as well accept that the battle to drastically lower CO₂ emissions is lost. If on the other hand you remember the Poll Tax and you live near Heathrow, maybe you’ll join Monbiot and the others to make the people’s voice heard.

Also the results of The Clarity of Night 'Halo' contest came out. I should have mentioned it yesterday but was suffering a bad case of ‘Can’t string a sentence together’ due to insomnia! Congratulations to all of you who entered and especially those who won prizes and honourable mentions. There was a huge amount of entries this time and there was a moment there when I thought I wasn’t going to get through all the stories, but I did. And off the top of my head two of the entries I voted for were placed.

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité

In eleven days time it’s the French Presidential Elections. I suppose it’s in my head because before turning off my TV last night I did that procrastination thing. You know there is nothing on, you really want to do something else, but you zap anyway. So, the last images were a quick flash about the number of undecided voters there were in France. I can’t remember what the percentage of undecided voters was but it was enough to send a chill down my spine and bring back memories of April 2002.

Now I don’t really understand how voting works in France, so anything I tell you hereafter might be completely wrong. About a million and five people put themselves forward as potential presidential candidates, honestly. In 2002 I thought that Olivier Bescancenot was representing Post Men. Having once done a temporary job as a post woman I had a little soft spot for the young presidential candidate who was actually representing the Communist Revolutionary League. Still, he didn’t have a hope in hell and most people were expecting Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin to romp through to the second round quite easily. The problem was that Chirac was a crook (having been accused of stealing a fair amount of money out of the French coffers when he was mayor of Paris) and Jospin was a kook; the left in France was a mess. I remember watching those percentage bars that reminded me of the points bar in Going for Gold and realising that something was seriously wrong; Jospin was behind Jean-Marie Le Pen.

And so the rest as they say is history. On the 1^st May I and tens of thousands of others marched ... somewhere. This is terrible but I can’t remember where. All I can remember was that there were thousands and thousands and thousands of people and we were so far at the back of the march that it took us something like three hours to amble past the starting point. It wasn’t a happy march, it was grim and determined. I for one was questioning what the fuck I was doing living in this country.

I still do. France is a seriously screwed up country; it’s racist, elitist and has an entrenched class system that no amount of revolutions has got rid of. I think I’ve finally decided that I don’t agree with ‘laicite’ law that was reintroduced meaning that as a secular country no religious symbols should be worn in schools. I don’t believe that we change opinions by making everybody the same. You may not be wearing a veil, but if you have an Arabic name it doesn’t matter if you were born in Saint Denis, Ile de France, France, because that still means that the job or the apartment will go to sweet little Amelie. If you went to a Grand Ecole your future is made. And don’t tell me that the competitions to get into university make everyone equal, in the words of Billy Bragg the French are ‘victims of geography’, everything in this country is centred around Paris.

But... I think if we sit down and examine any country long enough we can draw up a list of faults as long as our arms. France needs a big shake up, tension here is riding high, and only a few weeks ago there was a riot at the Gard du Nord because a man was stopped for not paying his fare. I’m not sure that voting is the answer, but it’s the voice we’ve been given for the moment, so I hope all those undecided people make their mind up soon.

I did a quiz on the Le Monde website this morning and it turns out that if I could vote here my politics are closest to José Bové the McDonald smashing GM crop destroying politician! And the Greens and the Communist Party, it was all level pegging really but I figured Bové was the best known figure!

The pictures are of Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy the two main candidates in the Elections. Francois Bayrou is also a contender and a whole smattering of Left wing candidates that will make sure that the vote is well and truly split.