Special New Year Messages

Here find assembled one very special collection of New Year Messages, from the ready, the wise and the very very awesome (just like you 8). After the year 2010 ended with a bang, or more than one (e.g. when the doors to the treasury burst open), we hope the monumentum will carry on into 2011 and beyond. So we wish to travel into 2011 with an excited sense of urgency that will grow and grow with the movement, and grow and grow we believe it shall, so be ready, be prepared, and now read some special messages written by some of our awesome friends, some of whom we met for the first time at last years awesome Anarchist Bookfair, where just maybe, the awesome beginning of the end of last year started...

London Indymedia New Year Messages

JOHN PILGER
journalist and filmmaker

With Wikileaks and its founder under siege, including from those who describe themselves as 'left', we  need to expose the fraudulent 'identity politics' that has so distorted  progressive thinking, while supporting those, like the students, who have the courage to face a police force with the impunity repress and harm. These are precarious, but exciting times.

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See our Wikileaks Wire and The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a solidarity declaration signed by John Pilger, Imc London and others as well as the interview with John Pilger at the Anarchist Bookfair

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HOUSMANS BOOKSHOP
radical booksellers since 1945

Politically an interesting year awaits us for sure, and we’ll be doing our best to play our small part in the struggles against the Coalition’s attacks on our jobs and services, by holding bookstalls, organising in-store events, sharing information and offering up our premises to campaign groups. If you think we might be able to support your actions in some way, please do get in touch.

Meanwhile the booktrade limps on : December 2009 saw the closure of high-street booksellers Borders, leaving HMV-owned Waterstones as the last chain bookstore in Britain. Incredibly, even with Borders out of the picture Waterstones reported significant losses for 2010; could we be moving to a point without chain bookstores? This would be good in some respects, but would hurt publishers overall, and narrow the amount (and type) of books that get published.

Bookshops still really need your support. Housmans, Freedom and Bookmarks are the last radical bookshops in London, so do please give us all a visit. Also in the pipeline for 2011 is the creation of something we’re calling the ‘Alliance of Radical Booksellers’, which should help provide a collective voice for the remaining radical booksellers in Britain.

The Wikileaks story gave us new reasons not to use Amazon – please have a look at our ‘What is wrong with using Amazon?’ page, which has pooled a fair amount of information on the corporation’s practices. Whilst there, also do check out our own fully stocked webshop housmans.com

As ever, a big thanks to everyone at Indymedia London for all the support and great work you do, and best wishes to one and all in 2011.

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Check the Housman's Group on Indymedia for upcoming events

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KICK NUCLEAR
campaigning against nuclear power and supporting sustainable alternatives

Kick Nuclear would like to wish everyone who has got off their arse and demanded a fair and sustainable future, an effective and colourful year ahead. 2010 saw a new wave of opposition to the government's plans to build 10 new nuclear power stations. There have been demos, die-ins, the formation of the national Stop Nuclear Power Network, blockades at two nuclear power plants, a weekend anti-nuclear energy camp, a protest inside Parliament and a 'Green Energy not Nuclear Greenwash' bloc at the National Climate March in London.

In 2011, Kick Nuclear will be making sure that nobody buys the government's lie that nuclear energy is clean and cheap. The nuclear industry has been allowed to contaminate our seas, water supplies and food-chain with cancer-causing radioactive waste for decades. Now it wants to introduce a new generation of power plants that will create even more toxic forms of waste – even though there is no scientifically approved method for long-term storage.   If we can stop a ‘nuclear renaissance’ in the UK, we could halt the worldwide expansion of nuclear energy and force governments to invest in sources that are genuinely sustainable and affordable. EDF Energy is spearheading the push for new nuclear in the UK, so Kick Nuclear is telling them to EDF-off.  Much more coming soon....

Further information can be found at: Boycottedf.org.uk
See past event on Indymedia and our website

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See our Anti Nuclear Wire, and the Kick Nuclear Group on Indymedia

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SHIFT MAGAZINE
political intervention into activist theory and practice

2010 started with lots of talk about a year of dissent/resistance. But it wasn’t until the university and college student unruliness of the past few weeks that the election of the coalition government has proved itself the defining event of 2010. We can expect more of the same and very different manifestations of popular rebellion when the cuts really start to bite and campaigners have had time to get organised.

For 2011, Shift Magazine looks forward to being part of and contributing to what we hope will be a strong and vibrant movement; a strategic movement that knows how to take control of its own momentum: that refuses, where necessary, to perform the spectacle of protest that outside events sometimes call us to; that knows how to stand back and reflect together; yet, ultimately, one that lets its anger be felt at every turn, whether on the streets - as it was so powerfully at Millbank - or in other aspects of our everyday lives

What Shift and Indymedia readers have in common is the desire not just to turn the clocks back to Tony Blair’s Labour, or to Keynesian economics. Where higher education is free, the university system is still elitist; where the rich are taxed more heavily, class society still persists; where financial markets are toughly regulated, money is still in command; where workers get a fairer deal, our labour is still exploited. In a time in which antagonism is converted into administrative solutions we hope there will emerge a radical politics which seeks not just to preserve what remains of the present state of things, but incorporates a critique of contemporary capitalist society alongside attempts to articulate alternative visions of the future

And before we sign off, some unabashed publicity: the first issue of 2011 is due to be released mid-January, featuring analysis on the cuts and student movement, a reply to this article, published in Shift #9, on the Bolivia climate conference, articles on Islam and the EDL, on liberalism and fanaticism, and more!  Find a copy here: buy online or find a list of stockists here.

Cheers, the Shift editors

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CIARON O'REILLY
nonviolent resister and christian anarchist

The death of Peter Postlewaite today is sad news. He was one of the good guys!

Peter played Giuseppe Conlon in the film "In the Name of the Father" whose memory we have honour in the naming our Catholic Worker House of Hospitality for destitute refugees in Harringey, London.  Giuseppe Conlon House also serves as a hub for nonviolent anti-war resistance and solidarity with resisters.

Gerry Conlon and "Guilford 4" lawyer Gareth Peirce were here a few weeks ago sharing some time, food and music with some of the refugee guests and Catholic Workers. I had met Peter Postlewaite in Dublin a couple of years ago during the screening of his fine documentary on Australina aborignal deaths in custody and I had hoped to invite him and  director Jim Sheridan to a screening of their film "In the Name of the Father"  at our 400 seater Giuseppe Conlon venue this year.  We hadn't invited them to our Nov 21 opening as we did not want to confuse the reality of the "Guilford 4" with the better known film version. Peter Postlewaithe is a great loss at the start of this new year.

It's a new year's start full of anniversaries. New Year's Day was the 20th. anniersary of our "ANZUS Plowshares" action at Griffiss Air Force Base in upstate New York. We four managed to put a loaded and ready to go B52 Bomber out of action for the length of the 1991 "Gulf War/Massacre" and close the runway during the intense mobiliation for war.

January 11th. is the 10th anniversary of the opening of Guanatanmo, which is now way past its Obama set closed by date, our friends will be taking NVD action in D.C. on the anniversary. They will also head down to stand outside Bradley Maning's Quantico Military Prison.

January 15th is the 20th. anniversary of the first shots of the 20 year ongoing U.S. led war on the people of Iraq, we are organisng simultaneous vigils (with D.C. folks at White House 7 p.m. D.C. time/ we'll be outside the London U.S. Embassy J16 1 a.m.) preceeded by an  anti-war event at our Giuseppe Conlon venue. Other friends will be outside at an arms company in Bristol and possibly the military brig in Colchester and at Shannon Airport in Ireland at the same time we are at the U.S. embassy.

Nonviolent resistance to the warmaking state, practical solidarity with the homless and realising the anarcho pacifist vision of a self managed economy seems to be the revolutionary program for 2011.  Hope to meet y'all on the road.

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See more articles about actions by the Catholic Workers

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LONDON CAMPAIGN AGAINST ARMS TRADE
a friendly group of determined people

London Campaign Against Arms Trade have had a busy year.  Our main focus was Clarion Events, the owners of the DSEi arms fair.  We were outside as many of Clarion's events as we could manage from dressing up in beach wear for the Spirit of Summer fair in May to braving a blizzard for the International Horse Show in December; via a painting session outside the Fine Art Fair in June, bringing a large baby to the Baby Show in October and Santa and his elves descending on November's Spirit of Christmas Fair.

A mock demolition site was set up outside the UK Trade and Investment Department in CAAT's Stop the Arms Trade week, to highlight the destructive nature of the Defence and Security Organisation's work within UKTI proportionally there are more civil servants promoting arms sales than all the other areas within UKTI put together.  We also ran a workshop on local actions at CAAT's National Gathering as well as having stalls at events like the Anarchist Book Fair and the Festival of Life.

As for 2011, our major target this year is the DSEi arms fair in September.  We will continue to put pressure on Clarion Events through protests, letter writing and other forms of action.  Other plans include screenings of relevant films and efforts to increase the number of London CAAT members - get in touch if you want to get involved (dressing up as
elves or babies optional!) londoncaat@riseup.net.

Finally, thanks to London Indymedia for all their support throughout the year and their help in allowing us to connect with fellow activists.

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See more articles about actions by the Campaign against the Arms Trade as well as their Group on Indymedia

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MICHAEL ALBERT
u.s. activist, speaker, and writer and co-editor of znet

The past year was mixed, like the past thirty years. On the downside, elites worldwide, corporate and otherwise, have continued their longterm enrichment and empowerment campaign for themselves with considerable success. On the upside, however, there are stirrings of not just awareness of injustice and deprivation - I actually think there is no shortage of awareness of what's wrong - and not just even of anger at pain and suffering, which is also widespread and abundant, but of positive desires starting to inspire sustained active involvement in efforts at change. And i don't just mean in Greece or France, nor more so, Venezuela and Bolivia. Rather, less dramatically, it is occuring all over, even where I live, in the U.S. I don't want to exaggerate, in country after country, and especially where I live, in the U.S., we have had many setbacks for justice and popular self management, but even as the rich, powerful, and culturally and politically anointed continue to pile up their vile gains, the underpinnings of their dominance are beginning to fray and the opportunities for productive transformation are beginning to appear and spread. You can feel it. You can hear it. You can even see it. You just have to have soul, ears, and eyes for it.

As visions of better life start to take root, and they are starting to take root, albeit slowly initially -  awareness and anger can turn away from cynicism and instead produce strategic activism. Will this shift accelerate and even gain irreversible traction and win some serious gains in 2011? Will it prepare a foundation for much much more to come? The tally for justice depends on our choices and diligence as much as it depends on anything else. And I think, yes, if we generate shared and inspiring vision, if we produce from it shared broad strategy and organizational aims and practices, if we work together with real solidarity, then yes, we are in sight of turning a major corner from bemoaning despair and cynicism to building commitment and might able to win change. Will accelerate in 2011? We just have to work harder and smarter to make it happen.

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See our Wikileaks Wire and The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a solidarity declaration signed by Michael Albert, Imc London and others as well as the interview with Michael Alberts at the Anarchist Bookfair

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DISSIDENT ISLAND RADIO
focusing on environmental and social campaigns

2010 has been a solid year for us on Dissident Island as we've grown in numbers and in strength. On the twenty four shows we've done this year we have covered another years mix of news from belgrade to rossport, vegan chocolate cake to diy beer and folk through to dubstep. We also got through some of our aims for 2010, which was nice. Our bike sound
system - the Beast - has been out on the streets for demos, used at parties and out on critical mass. We also did some kick ass parties, including benefits for LARC and London Indymedia. And we have been lucky enough to engage with other diy asthetic internet radio kollektives such as Kebele in Bristol, Radio Interference in Northern England and Redbricks in Manchester.

So, with 2011 in front of us now we are looking forward to a year of political unrest from students and unions and seeing more people on the streets. We've got more plans afoot for interesting audio devices, so Dissident Island will be there too, hearing what you have to say and entertaining you along the way. At the Island we want to continue to keep our regular show relevant and useful, so send us your requests and ideas for sharing DIY knowledge. Dissident Island will also be looking to further collaborate with other radical radio crews around the country, and the world, in continuation of creating a UK radical radio network... So get in touch if you're interested in this idea.

So, kick ass in 2011.
see you on the streets
D*I

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Check out the Merry Final Show of 2010 by Dissident Island, their website and Indymedia Group

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Please add a special message from your awesome selves for all the awesome people who use and contribute to London Indymedia, here's looking forward to 2011.