

More photos of the City Centre Seaside here.
An explanation of a landlocked city centre becoming a beach here.
About me? Mad, disabled, in debt, feminist, radical, angry, pacifist, warrior, radio 4 listener, geek, flower-power chick... About Hippie blog? Ramblings, photos, fury, giggles and musings about love, peace, friendship, madness, happiness, the state of the world, my life, cool pics, my health and general ranting...
"We demand a full and speedy public inquiry into Jean's murder. We
believe that the web of deceit that was spun by the Metropolitan
Police means that Sir Iain Blair's position is now untenable and
he should resign immediately. Furthermore we believe that it is
inconceivable that the Home Office and government were not aware
of these circumstances. They failed not only to counter the lies
in the public domain but actively counselled against Jean by press
releasing details of his visa status on the day of his funeral" -
Justice for Jean campaign
Following leaks from inside the IPCC inquiry the mainstream media
has finally grown suspicious of police actions surrounding the
killing of Jean Charles Menezes on a tube train on July 22nd.
Leaks from the inquiry have provided a picture very different from
that initially provided by police.
Furthermore, it would appear that the Met are actively attempting
to intimidate Menezes' family from demanding a public inquiry.
SchNEWS has learned of a campaign of outright obstruction to the
family's involvement in the inquiry, including an attempt to buy
them off.
The leaked witness statements from the inquiry published in the
mainstream press are damning enough. They demonstrate that the
Met's initial reaction was damage limitation and concern for
reputation rather than any attempt to obtain the truth. Ian Blair
(Commissioner of the Met) repeatedly fed the press a diet of
outright falsehoods. We learned that Jean Charles was running, had
vaulted a ticket barrier and refused to stop when challenged. In
some news accounts he was wearing a bulky jacket with wires
protruding, and no overt denials of this were made by police. We
now know that he didn't run, didn't jump the tube, wasn't
challenged and was executed by two officers, while another pinned
his arms to his sides. He was placed under surveillance by an
officer who had left the army a year ago. SchNEWS reckons a year
is quite a short time for a beat bobby to be promoted to an
anti-terrorist unit. How many other soldiers have been
fast-tracked into London's anti-terrorist police we wonder? These
lies were propagated for weeks after the killing, long after the
police must have known they were wrong. Police press releases
peddled lies while the real evidence was suppressed.
In a clear sign of a cover up, Ian Blair delayed the entry of the
Independent Police Complaints Commission into the investigation
for six days. Police obstruction of scrutiny is nothing new. The
years it took the Lawrences, the Stanley family etc etc to gain
even a glimmer of justice are evidence of that. This time however,
the stakes are higher than one family's justice. The shooting of
Jean Charles calls into question how the 'war on terror' will be
fought on the domestic front. Already the right-wing press is
calling for all firearms officers to be exonerated from criminal
charges - i.e State sanctioned death squads. The Menezes' case
calls into question not only Operation Kratos and 'shoot to kill'
but the whole raft of anti-terror policies and the current attack
on civil liberties.
The establishment approach to the inquiry has been to sweep the
matter under the carpet and substitute a version of events more
useful to their agenda. The public perception was meant to be that
a regrettable accident had occurred, but perhaps Menezes was in
many ways culpable. That story is now lies shattered.
TUBEWAY BARMY
One major obstacle to their approach has been the public sympathy
for Jean Charles' family. There have been solidarity
demonstrations both here and Brazil. A broad swathe of the public
can empathise as easily with a young man gunned down on a tube as
they can with the victims of the 7/7 bombings. Just like
terrorists, the police are now to be feared as the agents of
random death. In short the case has turned into a public relations
disaster for the government's policy on terrorism.
The Justice for Jean campaign still have a number of unanswered
questions and are outraged at the revelations of a cover up. They
are demanding a public inquiry. Among the questions they want
answered are:
* "Where did a "shoot to kill" policy emanate from and on what
claimed legal basis? What public debate and democratic
accountability surrounded the coming into being of that policy?"
* Why was the pathologist at the post mortem conducted on July
27th (at which senior investigating police officers were present)
told the following: "This man's death occurred as part of the
emergency relating to the planting of bombs on public transport in
London. On the morning of the 22 July 2005 he was pursued by armed
police officers as a result of surveillance. He was followed into
Stockwell Tube Station where he vaulted over the ticket barrier.
He ran downstairs and onto a tube train where it appears that he
stumbled. The officers then immobilised him and a number of shots
were fired. At the present time I am not sure as to any further
details."
* "What CCTV footage from Stockwell underground station and the
underground train exists? If there is none, why is there none?"
The family are also voicing concern about the processes of the
inquiry. They are demanding to know:
* Are police officers, including those who fired the shots, making
statements as witnesses or as potential suspects i.e. are those
interviews being conducted under caution.
* At what levels police officers, including senior police
officers, are being interviewed and whether they are under caution
or not. Who is being interviewed and by whom?
* Do these include senior police, past and present who appeared to
believe, wrongly, that they were entitled to order a blanket
"shoot to kill" practice.
These and other questions, if asked and answered in public as Jean
Charles' family wish, will surely shed light on areas of domestic
policy concerning civil liberties, the militarization of the
police and the 'war on terror' that Blair & Co. would prefer
shrouded.
read more...
"It has been a favourite theme of commentators that this House no longer occupies a central role in British politics. Nothing could better demonstrate that they are wrong than for this House to stop the commitment of troops in a war that has neither international agreement nor domestic support. I intend to join those tomorrow night who will vote against military action now. It is for that reason, and for that reason alone, and with a heavy heart, that I resign from the government."So it was Robin Cook's funeral today.
I'm really, really wary of this idea. As a child I developed emetophobia severe enough that I eventually stopped eating at all, as that seemed the most effective way to never be sick. This led to secondary anorexia, which then became the primary problem.
Nowadays I still utterly fear being sick, but unlike then it doesn't rule my life. I generally eat what I want to, go where I want to, see who I want to, without having to plan it all around likeliness of sickness.
But for several years, terror at the thought of being sick meant that I was petrified of a lot of food, especially any which had any association with sickness (something I'd eaten before being sick, something I'd read about causing food poisoning, something I ate before seeing someone who looked pale or ill, something I'd eaten without being close enough to a toilet in case I was going to be sick, you see the theme...). So for a long time I ate virtually nothing.
This was a totally miserable period of my life, and I don't think weight loss is important enough to try and deliberately induce these feelings and fears in people. It seems an irresponsible way of practicing.
UK Police: Man Killed Unrelated to Probe
LONDON (AP) - The man shot and killed on a subway car by London police in front of horrified commuters apparently had nothing to do with this month's bombings on the city's transit system, police said Saturday in expressing their ``regrets.''
A self-help guide to every thing women are doing and thinking in Britain today: including Health, Sexuality, The Sex Discrimination Act, Welfare Benefits, Work, Children, Rape, The Women's Movement, Fostering, The Arts.
Under the Iranian penal code, girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 can be hanged
"According to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979.I also uploaded the story to Indymedia UK.
"Altogether, an estimated 100,000 Iranians have been put to death over the last 26 years of clerical rule. The victims include women who have sex outside of marriage and political opponents of the Islamist government.
"Last August, a 16 year old girl, Atefeh Rajabi, was hanged for 'acts incompatible with chastity.'
Alert at tube stations
Emergency services are responding to reports of incidents at three London underground stations today, and witnesses reported seeing smoke.
Scotland Yard said they were responding to incidents at Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd's Bush stations on the underground. British Transport police said all of the stations were being evacuated.
A passenger on a tube train about to arrive at Warren Street tube stations said there were reports of an exploding rucksack, the smell of smoke and dozens of panicking passengers running through the train.
"The train was not far short of Warren Street station when suddenly the doors between my carriage and the next one burst open and dozens of passengers started running through," a retired special constable, called Ivan, told Sky News.
Police said the first incident was reported at 12.54pm.
On July 7, two weeks ago today 56 people died when four suicide bombers attacked three tube stations and a bus in the capital. The Metropolitan police have warned of a risk of further attacks
'Incidents' spark Tube evacuation
Emergency services have been called to three Tube stations after "incidents", Scotland Yard said.
Police confirmed they had been called to Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd's Bush stations.
There have been reports of smoke coming from the stations and all three have been evacuated.
The whole of the Northern Line has been suspended, along with the Victoria Line and the Hammersmith and City. There are no reports of any casualties.
A spokesman for London Underground said the nature of the incidents was unknown.
One hospital, near Warren St station, has started its emergency plan.
Last summer, the ‘Steel Man’ dominated the Town Hall Square. The 12-foot high living sculpture of a steel worker came complete with crucible and molten steel and attracted many people each day that came to admire the work – and take a photo!
This year the city has gone one better with a new addition in the form of the Buffer Girl, who is shown polishing cutlery on a buffing wheel.
Local company Escafeld Art Metalwork Ltd has designed both structures, which over the coming weeks will be filled with 22 bags of compost and planted with over 7,000 plants by the City Council Nursery team.
Richard Payne, Assistant Area Manager for the Nursery Team, said: “The Steel Man was a huge hit with both young and old last year. This year we decided to introduce the Buffer Girl to highlight the buffer girls’ role in the city’s history.”
Councillor Harry Harpham, Sheffield Council’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Green Spaces, said: “The Steel Man and the Buffer Girl will be one of our crowning attractions in our bid to win European Gold in Entente Florale.
“Both structures show the two sides of Sheffield industrial heritage and the work that was carried out in the steel and cutlery industries. It is a great way to tie in both the heritage of the city’s industrial past and link this to Sheffield being one of the greenest cities in Europe.”
Entente Florale has been running for more than 25 years. Sheffield is one of only two places (along with St Ives), chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the 2005 competition.
In the Towns and Cities category, Sheffield will be up against Baden in Austria, Mako in Hungary, Le Plesis-Robinson in France and Potsdam in Germany amongst others. England’s entrants last year were Harrogate in the town’s category and Darley in the villages category, both winning Gold. It’s a great credit to the region that once again a place in Yorkshire is representing Britain in Entente Florale.