Alan Lodge's Blog

Thought I would start the New Year with a quote, to get us going …….

Advice from Monty Python, on life

Just remember that you’re standing on a planet that’s evolving

And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,

That’s orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it’s reckoned,

A sun that is the source of all our power.

The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see

Are moving at a million miles a day

In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour,

Of the galaxy we call the ‘Milky Way’.

Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars.

It’s a hundred thousand light years side to side.

It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,

But out by us, it’s just three thousand light years wide.

We’re thirty thousand light years from galactic central point.

We go ’round every two hundred million years,

And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions

In this amazing and expanding universe.

The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding

In all of the directions it can whizz

As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,

Twelve million miles a minute, and that’s the fastest speed there is.

So remember, when you’re feeling very small and insecure,

How amazingly unlikely is your birth,

And pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere up in space,

‘Cause there’s bugger all down here on Earth.

Life of Brian – Monty Python

Eric Idle

Thought I would start the New Year with a quote, to get us going …….

Advice from Monty Python, on life

Just remember that you’re standing on a planet that’s evolving

And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,

That’s orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it’s reckoned,

A sun that is the source of all our power.

The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see

Are moving at a million miles a day

In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour,

Of the galaxy we call the ‘Milky Way’.

Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars.

It’s a hundred thousand light years side to side.

It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,

But out by us, it’s just three thousand light years wide.

We’re thirty thousand light years from galactic central point.

We go ’round every two hundred million years,

And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions

In this amazing and expanding universe.

The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding

In all of the directions it can whizz

As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,

Twelve million miles a minute, and that’s the fastest speed there is.

So remember, when you’re feeling very small and insecure,

How amazingly unlikely is your birth,

And pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere up in space,

‘Cause there’s bugger all down here on Earth.

Life of Brian – Monty Python

Eric Idle

‘A Right to Know’

Michael Crick introduced a program on BBC Radio4 on the amount of information, held on us, and , our rights in getting to see it. Here is an MP3. I think this is a splendid ‘overview’ of issues involved and commend it to you

http://tash.dns2go.com/FTP/MP3/BBC Radio4 – A Right to Know – Michael Crick 29dec02.mp3

Here are some of my own efforts, in trying the gett access, via using these laws.

‘Location Data’ on the use of a mobile phone

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_07_14_tash_lodge_archive.html#79031925

MI5 – Some of my own adventures

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_11_10_tash_lodge_archive.html#84336325

True Spies BBC2, after-show internet discussion .RAM

http://tash_lodge.blogspot.com/2002_11_10_tash_lodge_archive.html#84334842

The Anarchist Travelling Circus

http://www.g8circus.org.uk

The Anarchist Travelling Circus is UK-wide series of actions, projects and events, and a mobilisation against the latest knees up of the powermongers of world misery – the G8 Summit taking place in Evian (Lake Geneva, on the French-Swiss border), June 1st-3rd 2003.

WHY?

The summit-hopping protests of the last few years, labelled by Tony Blair post-Gothenberg, as an ?Anarchist Travelling Circus?, have done much to build and revitalise the growing anti-capitalist movement, to strengthen existing international solidarity, to create new links, and to facilitate the mobilisation of people and ideas. The inevitable publicity that surrounds such occasions has served to inform people about the existence of an organised resistance to capitalism.

While this process is important and should continue, it is clear that mobilising around specific one-off or annual events such as Mayday, G8, EU meetings etc. will never be enough.

The Anarchist Travelling Circus is an attempt to reconcile the mass mobilisations that accompany events such as the G8, with local projects and actions; to create links between the anti-capitalist movement and the daily stuggles in our communities and workplaces; to involve those who cannot or do not want to travel round the globe getting tear-gassed; and to continue to make the point that our multiple struggles against war and militarism, the destruction of the earth, debt and lack of housing, the treatment of asylum seekers, the mind-numbing, soul-destroying monotony of wage labour and many other issues too numerous to name, cannot be won until the fight against capitalism is won and that this must be fought – not a couple of times a year in set-pieces against riot police, but daily, constantly, everywhere.

This attitude has most recently been reflected in the idea of Social Centres and Social Centres networks which have been springing up around the country, inspired in part by the Social Centres movements of other European countries; and by the attempt this year to use Mayday for a ?Festival of Alternatives? that aimed to promote both theoretical and practical sustainable forms of resistance and involve a variety of groups and issues.

WHAT IS IT?

The idea of the Anarchist Travelling Circus, while still in it?s infancy, is a 5-6 week tour of the country, perhaps beginning on Mayday, and culminating in Evian on June 1st at the G8, with a possible ?No Border? Camp en route. As the Circus progresses around the UK, people would join and leave the procession at will, staying on the road til Evian, or never leaving their home town. At each city, town or village it arrives in people would organise actions around struggles they are involved in, open social centres, or organise cultural events. This would hopefully serve to highlight existing struggles and act as an inspiration for new longterm projects, as well as leaving a lasting legacy beyond the spectacle of confrontational action.

It is important that the emphasis is placed on the actions and events that happen in each place, and that the impetus for these comes from local people and the struggles they are involved in, rather than a touring procession of activists just parachuting in. It is also important to involve as many people as possible and to have an open and inclusive working process.

The theme of ?travelling? – in the form of convoys, critical masses and mass train bunks – would be primarily used to physically and visually link issues and ideas that are already fundamentally linked in that they all pose an opposition to capitalism.

GET INVOLVED

The idea is for anybody who is interested, from whatever part of the UK, to set up local groups to organise events and network the idea in their area. We would like as many individuals and horizontally-organised groups as possible to take part in this. The hope is that this would help to build links between anti-capitalists, refugee groups, those involved in workplace & community struggles, environmental groups, claimant?s unions etc., and also help to build a sustainable country-wide network, as well as involving people in ongoing projects in their area.

A discussion will take place at the ?Reclaim the Future? event on Saturday 21st September in London, and there will be a national meeting at the Anarchist Bookfair at The Camden Centre, London WC1, on 19th October, 2002.

This is going to take a lot of time, money and energy, so fundraising and networking should ideally start as soon as possible.

In the meantime an internet discussion list has been set up. To subscribe to this, send a blank email to:

anarchisttravellingcircus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

If you are setting up a group in your area and would like someone to come and speak about the idea, please email anarchisttravellingcircus@yahoo.co.uk and let us know.

Tash’s ‘Free’ Desktops, available for download

Have prepared a number of ‘desktop designs’ and have made them available for download. Saved as 1024×768 .BMP files at 2.3Mb. Here are some samples. Please click line below for the full selection

http://tash.dns2go.com/FTP/Desktop1024x768

Hope you like.

Economic League

Economic League, an organisation which collects data for private and government subscribers. Much of the information they collect results in the blacklisting of totally innocent workers, who have been unable to obtain or maintain jobs because of the inaccuracy of the League’s data. It is now a matter of public record that the League was set up by former intelligence agents and that since its inception it maintained official links with MI5 and Special Branch.

In the UK companies concerned about employing trade union activists, former tribunal litigants or political militants can contact an organisation called CAPRiM. This organisation was formerly called The Economic League. It reportedly went into liquidation two years ago, but has now risen pheonix-like from the ashes and has a registered address in Redditch, Worcestershire. What CAPRiM does is probably unlawful under the Data Protection Act, although its predecessor always claimed that its records were kept on card indexes. The Employment Relations Act 1999 outlawed ‘blacklisting’, but we await the necessary secondary legislation to make the Act bite. Meanwhile CAPRiM operates as a legitimate business, is active in the Institute of Directors and sits on the management board of a leading Business School.

Not just my paranoid rantings you know! Please check out “The Journal of Information, Law and Technology” They have covered the New Code of Practice – S51 (3) (b) of The Data Protection Act 1998 at:

http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/news00-2.html

and …..

For the giggle, thought i would include and extract from Hansard, to show that the state of affairs, continued.

Written Answers to Questions: Wednesday 8 February 1989

Economic League

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Economic League is registered under the Data Protection Act 1984.

Mr. Renton : The Economic League has a single entry in the data protection register, a copy of which is in the Library, covering its processing of personal data for the administration of the organisation.

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to enact legislation to ensure that people blacklisted by the Economic League can obtain access to the files that have caused their blacklisting to check that information.

Mr. Renton : No.

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-02-08/Writtens-1.html

The Economic League was set up in 1919 to fight Bolshevism and intervened in industrial relations

However, it wound up in 1994 after complaints of it holding inaccurate information on individuals; under data law it would have had to open its files. It had 40 current Labour MPs on its files, including the chancellor, Gordon Brown, and prominent trade unionists, as well as journalists and thousands of shopfloor workers.

Now again, open for business as: CAPRiM

Left blacklist man joins euro fight – Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/EMU/Story/0,2763,366293,00.html

A Nottingham ‘Landscape’

Took these from the top of St Marys church tower, in the middle of the city of Nottingham.

A ‘Free Art Space’

Since Im interested in graffitti, thought I would include this snap, for the jolley

Bloody Hell!

Since the last post, telling you of the collapse of the ‘archive links’ in this blog. I have been seeking advice and knowledge on how to fix it!

So many shot in the dark and different ‘routines’.

Anyway, suddenly, this morning. all’s well again. Have learned nothing from the fault and the excersice at all. I just works now, ’till the next time ……..

temp fault: i hope!

You may have noticed the archives links [on the left] from the previous weeks, have disappeared !!

Oh no!. This it’s a glitch and has got to do with the archive rebuilding.

Until it all back on, you can still view any previous enrties you want, by this link to the index. cheers.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tash.lodge/Blog/Blog_Links.htm

British Soldiers on Acid

Found this short MPG video clip of LSD experiments on Britsh Soldiers. Good for the jolley ……. !

http://hes.iki.fi/video/LSD_Being_Tested_on_Brtish_Troops.mpg

Santa Delayed: News just in …. !

Just been sent the following snap which explains why santa might be delayed, for some this year.

Splendid .. !!!

Happy Solstice

Happy Solstice one and all ……

For a full sized version of this, it’s worth it for a desktop! check out, and download here:

http://tash.dns2go.com/XTRA/Solsticecard_2002.jpg

size: 279Kb

Webserver ‘thread’ started on Urban75

Have announced my webserver back up again, and also, plugged the Orgiva work in Spain ….

http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27934

Done more webwork recently, so there is yet more to see ….. >

In addition to the work on my main website [ http://tash.gn.apc.org], have made a collection of Streaming Media work, presented in Windows .WMV & Real Media – .RM format

Have made different sizes of files available. Select the largest that you think your modem should handle.

http://tash.dns2go.com

Contained within are, 23 slideshows, presented with soundtracks at sizes 320×240, 640X480 & 800X600. 10x one hour shows of a selection of festival and party pictures in black and white and colour. Have also included several shed-loads of video, documentaries, soundtrack etc. In fact 2.6Gb of encoded video, slide shows and generally ‘big stuff’

Well gosh! I’ve had a ‘webserver’ running on my own machine for a few years now. However, recently, it had all broken down, and didn’t work!

But have checked and all seems well, again. So, if interested, do take a peek. A while since I’ve been able to show you this work ……!

Spy cameras catch burglars: BBC item

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2582495.stm

Homes in the West Midlands are being fitted with secret cameras in an attempt to catch burglars in the act.

The scheme has already been successfully piloted in Coventry and is now being extended across the whole of the West Midlands Police area.

It involves a tiny, infrared camera being installed in the homes of serial burglary victims.

Home Office research shows many offenders return to the original target within a short time because only makeshift repairs have been carried out or the householder has replaced all of the stolen goods.

The cameras can be easily hidden inside objects so they are undetectable to burglars. The cameras can be placed in everyday objects

Four burglars have already been caught and convicted as a result of the cameras during the scheme’s pilot phase.

Superintendent Peter Goodman said: “The cameras are so small they are almost invisible to the naked eye.

“Hopefully, by installing these cameras in the most vulnerable properties, we will be able to catch thieves ‘in the act’.

“The most susceptible homes and those most likely to be subject of repeat break-ins are those which are exposed and have little evidence of home security.”

The spy-camera is the latest initiative from Operation Safe Homes, a force-wide operation set up to reduce burglary.

* * * * * *

PRESS RELEASE

http://www.west-midlands.police.uk

Police To Use Tiny Undercover Hi-Tech Cameras To Catch Burglars ‘In The Act’

West Midlands Police Posted on: Tuesday 17 December 2002 at 10am

THE homes of vulnerable victims of burglary are to be installed with special undercover high-tech cameras aimed at catching thieves literally ‘in the act’.

The ‘House Trap’ cameras are being installed at homes across the West Midlands identified as being particularly vulnerable to being burgled – most have been victims on more than one occasion.

The latest initiative is part of Operation Safer Homes, a forcewide operation to tackle burglary and the handlers of stolen property.

“Every operational command unit has been asked to identify their local ‘hot properties’ – those which are most vulnerable to being broken into or have suffered previous burglaries,” said Superintendent Peter Goodman, who is co-ordinating the campaign.

“A tiny, infra red camera will be installed in these premises in an attempt to capture anyone who breaks in. The cameras are so small they are almost invisible to the naked eye.”

The devices can be easily hidden in objects around the house, making them virtually undetectable to burglars.

The cameras have been trialled in Coventry and, to-date, four burglars have been convicted after they were clearly shown raiding homes (see note overleaf).

“The aim of using these cameras is to protect vulnerable homes and to act as a deterrent to would-be burglars,” said Supt Goodman.

“The most susceptible homes, and those most likely to be subject of repeat break-ins, are those which are exposed and have little evidence of security such as alarms, good locks or solid doors.

“Home Office research shows many offenders return to the original target within a short time because only makeshift repairs have been carried out to the property or the householder has replaced all of the stolen property with new items,” said Supt Goodman.

“Therefore, where a home is burgled it’s important the householder takes immediate action. They should not only repair the damage caused but look at how and why they were a victim in the first place. By doing this they can identify the vulnerable points of their security and take action to address this.

“Hopefully, by installing these cameras in the most vulnerable properties, we will be able to catch thieves ‘in the act’. But we would rather prevent a break-in taking place in the first place,” said Supt Goodman.

Since being launched in October, Operation Safer Homes has seen a reduction in offences of more than 25 per cent compared to October and November last year. Year-to-date figures (from April to November) show a forcewide reduction of 13.6 per cent (17,696 offences compared to 20,542) – resulting in 2,846 fewer victims of burglary.

Superintendent Mark Sheasby, from Chace Avenue operational command unit in Coventry, was responsible for piloting the hidden cameras, which were funded by Coventry City Council’s Action Against Crime group.

He said: “The quality of images captured using these devices is excellent and should send out a clear warning to offenders. By using these devices, we are turning the table on burglars.

“The technology we are using is evolving all the time and since these cameras were originally piloted we have been developing even more sophisticated techniques. In this operational command unit alone we are seeing over 80 fewer victims of burglary a week as a result of our tactics.

“It is also important to stress that we are not just targeting burglars but also the handlers of stolen goods. In one of the examples captured on camera we carried out surveillance which resulted in the arrest of a network of burglars and thieves after the property was sold on.

“We have had some excellent results in Coventry and all of the feedback we have received from members of the public show they really welcome this initiative.”

Members of the public who are interested in learning more about the hidden cameras initiative are asked to contact their local police station.

Desert Storm New Year Party

Ciro Tenda, Portugal.

More info on the Tekno Circus collective based around The Web and the Tent http://www.network23.org/teknocircus

Guilfin ‘Festival Stories’ Competition

This was a piece, I submitted to the Guilfin ‘Festival Stories’ Competition. I won a CD!

http://www.guilfin.net/stories/?sy_id=syINET16

This story is ancient history now. It’s from the last century! Nothing to do with now at all. Except, for thousands of us, the oppression continues.

And hasn’t stopped since then. Its not just that the no fun brigade, wont let us gather to rave / festival / or just, gather. This is only part of a life. The rest of existence is about making your way, simple survival. The ALTERNATIVES that the festivals and travellers in this country have represented for thirty years now, have enable thousands to support themselvesand families with there own economy. When the main-stream of the country, couldn’t give a fuck about young peoples prospects, beyond ‘slave-labour’ schemes. It was a point of pride once, not to take the dole from them. Travelling did provide a viable alternative for many.

After the action I describe here, our economy collapsed. The knock-on effect of this, to the rest of our tribe was devastating, and resulted in mass migration all over Europe. (or the housing estates). Some by choice, some not.

News is now reaching us that the licence for next years Glastonbury festival has had many objections. This is stage one. The argument is about numbers and control. So many want to go. So there is going to have

to be some selection on who gets in. Travellers are first up for exclusion. We have help make this event since 1971. Some started out with utopian eyes. You know, alternative. However, yet another event is about

to be denied to us. Glastonbury next then? It all goes round again.

…………. >> cont

http://www.guilfin.net/stories/?sy_id=syINET16