Showing posts with label g8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label g8. Show all posts

Friday, August 26, 2005

Clowning as a protest tactic

Australian police will call in reinforcements to help guard next week's Forbes Conference of world business heavyweights which is expected to draw thousands of demonstrators, they said on Tuesday.

In the last few years many protest groups have taken a more comical approach to protests, direct action, and civil disobedience. Some groups even adopt clown costumes and clownish behaviour organisations inject clowning and clownish street theater into protests situations to heighten the effectiveness of their group and other groups, the most recent example being during the G8 protests in Scotland in July of 2005.

Assistant commissioner Terry Collins said the conference, which will gather some 300 captains of industry from international business, would bring with it "significant security implications."

He said: "It would be irresponsible if we did not match these risks with an appropriate level of response.

"Police for this event will not just come from local area commands but from support areas as well."

The conference will be held from August 30 to September 1 at Sydney's iconic harbourside Sydney Opera House.

Among those attending will be Australian War Criminal john hoWARd and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

New South Wales state police said they had been negotiating with protest organisers for more than two weeks about the demonstration planned for when the conference opens next Tuesday.

It is understood from reliable sources, however, that police led protest organisers up the garden path by suggesting that there would be no problems with protesting at the Opera House, only for the police to change their minds at the last minute, saying such a protest would be out of the question.

But protestors will not be allowed onto the Sydney Opera House forecourt, but will be allowed to protest in a lawful manner outside that area, police said.

G8 2005

The UK has the Presidency of the G8 for 2005 - news and analysis relating to responses to the G8 and the meetings in London, Derbyshire, Sheffield and across the UK in the run up to the summit in July at Gleneagles in Scotland.

Protests planned for Forbes conference

On August 30, at a cocktail party in the Sydney Opera House, Prime Minister John Howard will open the fifth Forbes Global CEO Conference — a corporate scumbag festival of the highest proportions.

Protests to greet US neo-cons

We will be treated to the edifying spectacle of an iconic public building given over to corporate conferencing. Steve Forbes, the quintessential boy-born-with-a-silver-spoon, signatory of the infamous “Project for a New American Century”, will regale us with his far-right Republican neo-conservativism. NSW Premier Morris Iemma and John Howard will stroke his ego on our behalf, extending our hand of welcome to the esteemed gathering.

The Secret Rulers of the World - New Link
By CLOWN BOBO 26 August 05

Related:

THOUSANDS of protesters to take over Circular Quay
Trade unionists, anti-globalisation activists, peace campaigners, environmentalists and religious groups will join forces as the 30A Network on the opening day of the conference, August 30, to make their point on everything from industrial relations reform to global warming and the continuing commitment of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Illegal and Degrading War

Teachers accused of anti-US bias
AUSTRALIA: The fascist federal treasurer has drawn a rebuke from teachers for warning them against spreading anti-Americanism in schools and suggesting it could mutate into anti-Westernism and terrorist attacks against Australia.

Social Services

Australian Greens Senator Responds To: Social Services Cuts
I am writing to you because I am concerned about people living in poverty in Australia. In Parliament, legislation will be introduced to put many people with disabilities and single parents on unemployment payments. If this law goes ahead unchanged, more people will live on less money after July 2006.

Corporate Welfare

Corporate welfare or how to steal social services?
Ever wondered why there are so many homeless, why we need a 10 pc GST, lack of services for mental disability, still paying off the Olympics, poor public transport planning etc etc etc?

Unemployment

Work for the dole is legal slavery
Work for the dole was originally sold to us by Howard as a warm and fuzzy light work project. We would be working for nothing but we would be enjoying giving back something to the community, so it was reckoned.

Military Spending

Howard: We as a nation have got to invest heavily in defence?
Fascist Prime Minister John HoWARd has indicated the Government will make major changes to work place laws, cut disability support forcing the disabled to work and increase his defence commitment.

Hill primed for war!
Australian Caretaker Defence Minister Robert Hill has announced a multi-million dollar upgrade of the Pearce Air Force base in Western Australia. Hill says $87 million would be spent on a major upgrade of the base, which is Australia's main flying training facility.

Troop deployment not a deepening of effort: Hill
Deploying an extra 30 troops to Iraq was not a deepening of Australia's involvement because they were being sent to protect those already there, Defence Minister Robert Hill said yesterday.

Auditor Generals damning defence report
The Defence Department computer system upgrade has cost Australia tens of millions of dollars in a gigantic bungle, according to the Federal Opposition. The Commonwealth auditor-general has issued a damning report into the project.

Climate Change

Pressure remains on Australia as Kyoto takes effect
The Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will today come into force after a decade of deliberations.

HoWARd: Winner who failed to lead by example but still won?
CHRISTMAS and the lead-up have their familiar rituals. On Christmas Day there is the present giving, church going and massive lunch, followed by the big recovery sleep.

Kyoto Protocol start date set
The Kyoto Protocol to combat global warming will take effect from February 16 after Russia formally handed over its notice of ratification overnight.
Posted by NSW Community News Network Archive at 4:30 AM
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Saturday, July 9, 2005

Galloway: Cry for social change

"The only way to make poverty history is to make the G8 history.(snip) Some of the most dangerous men in the world are in Gleneagles Hotel this week. They are responsible not only for the renewed and terrifying drive to war that characterises the start of the 21st century. They also preside over a system that is itself the biggest killer in the world.(snip)

You can't make poverty history by writing off some of the debt of some of the countries in Africa and pretending you have made up for centuries of exploitation and injustice."

To: intellectually curious

Subject: George Galloway - Battle cry for radical change

What do sweatshop workers in Bangladesh have in common with the people who work in your local supermarket? More than you might think, writes George Galloway, Respect MP The only way to make poverty history is to make the G8 history. I don't mean simply the annual jamboree for the leaders of the world's richest and most powerful states. I mean the whole nexus of exploitation and privilege that the G8 and its attendant institutions represent.

They are a gigantic siphon sucking up vast quantities of wealth from the poor - whether they live in the poorest countries or in the G8 states themselves. The G8 is not the solution - it is the problem.

Some of the most dangerous men in the world are in Gleneagles Hotel this week. They are responsible not only for the renewed and terrifying drive to war that characterises the start of the 21st century. They also preside over a system that is itself the biggest killer in the world.

Why does a child in Africa die every three seconds of preventable causes? Why did the tsunami last Christmas devastate so much of south and south east Asia? Because the people there are poor. There is no other reason. And why are they poor? It's because a tiny number of people standing at the head of the multinational corporations that bestraddle the globe are obscenely rich.

Not enough

We assembled in Edinburgh, London and many other places at the weekend to make poverty history. But it's not enough.

You can't get slim by eating low fat chocolate - it has to be part of a calorie controlled diet. You can't make poverty history by writing off some of the debt of some of the countries in Africa and pretending you have made up for centuries of exploitation and injustice.

Most countries in Africa are not included in even the limited debt reduction plan. Those that are included are being told they will have to privatise, deregulate and turn further towards the neo- liberal policies that are impoverishing them if they are to qualify.

Most of the world's poor don't live in Africa. They've been scandalously disregarded this week.

More than half the world lives on less than $2 a day. Cows in western Europe are subsidised by $2.40 a day. Add to that the cost of feeding the cow, and it comes to $6.40 a day. It's a similar picture in the US.

Tony Blair and George Bush are pushing for free trade because they know that it favours the already wealthy. Forcing people in the poorest countries to open up to the world market means accelerating the conveyor belt that transfers wealth into the hands of the multinational corporations.

What does this mean in real human terms? I went to Bangladesh this year and visited a sweatshop. There were hundreds of workers, mainly girls of 15 and 16, sleeping in quadruple bunk beds in the sweatshop compound.

They work from 6am to 7pm, six days a week, for 60p a day. Most of them do not leave the compound. Tesco jeans What were they making? Tesco jeans. They made hundreds of pairs every day for Tesco, which made £2,000 million profit last year selling things that other people make.

How are their profits that huge? Through the exploitation of workers in Britain, the exploitation of suppliers at the lowest margin and the exploitation of workers abroad, like in the sweatshops in Bangladesh.

Poverty at home and poverty abroad are connected - there is no separation. The hard pressed worker in a Tesco supermarket or depot, deprived of the basic right to sick pay, may not be on the edge of starvation - but they share a common bond with the girl in the sweatshop in Bangladesh.

Did Tesco behave illegally? No. What they are doing is their duty - to maximise profits for shareholders. They are behaving like upstanding capitalists.

In fact, shoring up their power means turning to far more direct methods of killing people. War and capitalism are interlinked. We are unlucky to live under two of the worst leaders in the world - the messianic, fundamentalist Tony Blair... and George Bush. But that isn't the reason for war. War comes from capitalism.

There are five Arabian Gulf countries containing vast amounts of oil, which is very important to the US. It has 4 percent of the world's population but consumes 25 percent of its energy.

Puppet presidents

That oil is too valuable to be left to Johnny Foreigner. Puppet presidents and corrupt kings might fall to leaders who would kick the US out, oppose Israel and use their money to develop their own countries.

They might also stop buying the West's arms. In September the arms dealers will be coming to an arms fair in east London.

They'll sell weapons to dictators who in future our government might oppose, and send British soldiers to fight and die against weapons sold by British arms companies and paid for by the British taxpayer under the export credit guarantee department.

In the old days you had plain, naked imperialism. We went in and took everything we could carry. In Africa we took people too, in holds of ships to become slaves.

Then there came a time when the colonies said, "We want to become independent and free." Now we are returning to the colonies we were driven out of. The most significant of these is Iraq.

We cannot go on like this. We have to change course, not only abroad, but also at home. For the same disastrous policies are being inflicted on people here in Britain.

It is possible

Take something as fundamental as housing. Constituents are coming to my surgery in Tower Hamlets every week with appalling problems of overcrowding, unfit conditions and endless waiting lists.

The neo-liberal answer from the government and local council is to privatise what is left of the council housing stock. The ineluctable result will be tenants made more insecure and more exploited as they are put at the mercy of private companies.

That will make it easier for millionaires in the City and Canary Wharf to get their hands on the land and housing, completing a process of social cleansing of the East End. What's modern about that? What's Labour about that? This year marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Within a few years this country built a vast number of council houses to make good the destruction of the Blitz and end the slum conditions of the 1930s.

Now, with the country much richer, why isn't it possible to have just such a building programme today? Of course it's possible. Just as it's possible to have a minimum wage set at the European decency threshold.

To accomplish any of this we need two things. The very fact that the issue of world poverty has been put on the agenda of the G8 summit meeting at all is testimony to the tremendous movement to oppose corporate globalisation and war we have built over the last six years.

Unaccountable figures

There are those who want to derail this movement, to blunt its radical edge, take it off the streets and transform it into a handful of unaccountable figures seeking crumbs from the rich and powerful on behalf of the mass of suffering people in the world.

That way lies disaster. No good has ever come of supplicating the likes of Bush and Blair. Progress has only ever come through the mass of people struggling for it.

Confronted with just such pressures to demobilise at the critical moment of the black civil rights movement in the 1960s, MartinLuther King said the key thing was "to keep the movement moving". We should heed those words today.

The second thing people are crying out for in Britain is political representatives who are of the movement and who seek to crack the neo-liberal consensus of the main parties.

I've just been part of an immensely successful speaking tour organised by the Respect party. We held some of the biggest political meetings for many years in towns, cities and at union conferences.

At each there was tremendous enthusiasm for what Respect has to say. The rallies helped breathe life into dozens of local campaigns and the G8 mobilisation.

They were also a significant step forward towards our goal of mounting a major challenge at next May's council elections. In shaking up the cosy political consensus at the general election, Respect has added to the sense of revolt in Britain.

We have drawn together pensioner activists, students, immigrant communities, trade unionists, anti-debt campaigners, anti-war activists -people who have been shut out of official politics.

We are a work in progress and we are a vehicle for radical change. The most pressing problem we have is that we are not big enough.

You can do something about that.

Respect website

By G. Galloway posted 9 July 05

Related:

The Secret Rulers of the World - New Link
 UK false flag: where the bombers struck
The London transport system was coping with the peak of the morning rush hour when the coordinated terror attack the capital had feared became reality.

Malnutrition strikes 1 in 3 Africans: UN
One in three Africans suffers from malnutrition and a total of 852 million people in the world suffer from hunger, the United Nations says in a new report.

Howard off to US, UK - part 5
PART-5- PRIME minister john hoWARd will meet US president george w buSHIT, British prime minister tony blair and queen 'imperialism' herself during a 10-day visit to the United States and the UK next month.

Annan urges UN members to 'make poverty history'
World governments must embrace a broad strategy ranging from trade and debt forgiveness to handing out mosquito netting to "make poverty history", United Nations chief Kofi Annan says.


UN Dialogue among Civilizations
This roundtable is a contribution to the UN Dialogue among Civilizations project that began in September 2000. At the first round table debate on Dialogue among Civilizations, Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN stated that, cultural diversity - in his opinion - is not only the basis for the Dialogue among Civilizations, but also the reality that makes dialogue necessary, since the perception of diversity as a threat is the very seed of war. [The role of religion in creating a culture of peace and moving on from a culture of fear.]

Kenya faces hunger crisis
The United Nations is appealing for help for up to 2 million people facing hunger in Kenya.
Posted by NSW Community News Network Archive at 7:50 AM
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