the filthy rich

Extinction Rebellion blockade Amazon warehouses on Black Friday

Extinction Rebellion protest at Fife, Scotland.

Extinction Rebellion blockade Amazon over ‘exploitation of people and planet’

Extinction Rebellion (XR) blocked Amazon distribution centres on “Black Friday”—a day of sales and big profits for the business. 

The group occupied Amazon sites across Britain, in Germany and in the Netherlands in protest at its “exploitative and environmentally destructive business practices”. Climate activists are planning to continue the blockade for the next couple of days. 

Rosie, a student supporter of XR, spoke to Socialist Worker from the blockade at the company’s distribution centre in Doncaster in South Yorkshire. She said Amazon is exploiting “people and planet”. 

She said activists arrived at the depot at 4 am, with rebels locking onto concrete blocks and erecting a bamboo structure at one entrance. 

The group blocked the entrances that HGV lorries use to travel in and out of the centre, effectively halting distribution.

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Extinction Rebellion blockades Amazon UK hubs on Black Friday

Activists target distribution network to highlight company’s treatment of workers and environmental impact

Climate activists have blockaded Amazon distribution centres across the UK to highlight the company’s treatment of its workforce and what they say are its “environmentally destructive and wasteful business practices”.

Scores of Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists locked themselves together and used bamboo structures in an attempt to disrupt the online retail company’s distribution network on Black Friday – one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Unveiling banners reading “Infinite growth: Finite planet”, protesters said the blockade was part of an international action by XR targeting Amazon “fulfilment centres” in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spectator#Political_ideology_and_policy_positions

The Spectator is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs.[1] It was first published in July 1828,[2] making it the oldest weekly magazine in the world.[3]

It is owned by Frederick Barclay, [dizzy: [ed: the surviving] one of the ‘Barclay brothers’ who may be described as filthy rich i.e. extremely rich and extremely polluting and destructive] who also owns The Daily Telegraph newspaper, via Press Holdings. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture. It is politically conservative. Alongside columns and features on current affairs, the magazine also contains arts pages on books, music, opera, film and TV reviews.

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https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-snobbery-of-extinction-rebellion-s-amazon-blockade

The snobbery of Extinction Rebellion’s Amazon blockade

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Extinction Rebellion is fundamentally a movement for austerity. No wonder it is unpopular. We like our holidays, we like our comforts and we like our Black Friday bargains, so bugger off.

Tory MP Who Criticised Climate Action For Impact on World’s Poor Has Stakes in 18 Extractive Companies

A Tory MP who suggested it is “morally wrong” to discourage poor countries from pursuing high-carbon growth on climate change grounds has a financial interest in numerous fossil fuel and mining companies.

Among the 18 extractive companies listed under the MP’s entry in the parliamentary register of interests are Shell and the world’s largest oilfield services company, Schlumberger.

Marcus Fysh, a member of the “Net Zero Scrutiny Group” of MPs recently launched to push back against the government’s climate policies, told talkRADIO earlier this month the developing world should not be forced to follow greener economic pathways, speaking of the abject poverty he had witnessed in India.

“It is frankly morally questionable, morally wrong some might say, to try to withhold the prospect of development from such people that could improve their lives,” he said. 

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Continue ReadingExtinction Rebellion blockade Amazon warehouses on Black Friday

COP26 News review day 12

The final day of the COP26 summit.

Honest Government Ad | Net Zero by 2050 (feat. Greta Thunberg)

Hundreds of global civil society representatives walk out of Cop26 in protest

Carrying blood-red ribbons to represent the crucial red lines already crossed by Cop26 negotiations, hundreds of representatives of global civil society walked out of the convention centre in Glasgow on the final morning of the summit in protest.

The audience at the People’s Plenary in the conference blue zone heard speakers condemn the legitimacy and ambition of the 12-day summit before walking out to join protesters gathered on the streets beyond the security fencing.

“Cop26 is a performance,” the Indigenous activist Ta’Kaiya Blaney of the Tla A’min Nation told the meeting before the walkout. “It is an illusion constructed to save the capitalist economy rooted in resource extraction and colonialism. I didn’t come here to fix the agenda – I came here to disrupt it.”

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George Minbiot: Make extreme wealth extinct: it’s the only way to avoid climate breakdown

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A recent analysis of the lifestyles of 20 billionaires found that each produced an average of over 8,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide: 3,500 times their fair share in a world committed to no more than 1.5C of heating. The major causes are their jets and yachts. A superyacht alone, kept on permanent standby, as some billionaires’ boats are, generates around 7,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.

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I’ve come to believe that the most important of all environmental measures are wealth taxes. Preventing systemic environmental collapse means driving extreme wealth to extinction. It is not humanity as a whole that the planet cannot afford. It’s the ultra-rich.

Fossil fuel industry gets subsidies of $11m a minute, IMF finds (An older article for context).

The fossil fuel industry benefits from subsidies of $11m every minute, according to analysis by the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF found the production and burning of coal, oil and gas was subsidised by $5.9tn in 2020, with not a single country pricing all its fuels sufficiently to reflect their full supply and environmental costs. Experts said the subsidies were “adding fuel to the fire” of the climate crisis, at a time when rapid reductions in carbon emissions were urgently needed.

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Extra video from thejuicemedia

Continue ReadingCOP26 News review day 12

DRAFT, to be expanded: Charlie Hebdo false-flag in Paris

“In some ways she was far more acute than Winston, and far less susceptible to Party propaganda. Once when he happened in some connection to mention the war against Eurasia, she startled him by saying casually that in her opinion the war was not happening. The rocket bombs which fell daily on London were probably fired by the Government of Oceania itself, ‘just to keep people frightened’. This was an idea that had literally never occurred to him. She also stirred a sort of envy in him by telling him that during the Two Minutes Hate her great difficulty was to avoid bursting out laughing.” George Orwell, 1984

 

As it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Charlie Hebdo attack on cartoonists in Paris was fake, manufactured terrorism I need to point some things out. I apologise this is basically in note form at the moment.

Repeated false-flag events. 9/11 was clearly not the first, [?Madrid? NB days after 911], London, Paris [most likely Mumbai too]

The joke they play – killing their own people. Warning given.

Surprised at the French people being taken in – are they or just some?

Police, politicians, journalists permit this to happen. For example, police, politicians and journalists conspired in the murder of an unsuspecting foreign national by a foreign national gang (on the tube).

A Fascist state – not democracy. A small, organised criminal cabal in charge with state institutions subservient to it. Similar to P2 in Italy. Neo-Con scum. Deception as per teachings of Levi Strauss. That Muslims are being demonised as Jews were.

Political parties beholden to them – relate to TTIP i.e. totally contrary to public interest, democracy but for the benefit of the small wealthy elite.

Labour Party just as bad as the Conservatives / Conservative Lib-Dems. Ed Balls & Mandy Mandelson (although New Labour, current LP no discernible difference to Tories) at Bilderberg. Did Blair attend? Blair did attend and lied to parliament about attending. Tiny filthy rich minority getting filthy richer.

Conveniently-timed deaths and suicidings. For Blair John Smith, David Kelly, Robin Cook (who was a challenge, on tour).

Relate to paedophilia – that paedophilia is a way to control politicians, Blair’s cabinet [There may be an assumption that the Blair minister involved in exerting influence so that a convicted paedo child care home supervisor in South London could adopt children is mandy. I don’t assume that and my working hypothesis is that there were many paedos in Blair’s cabinet – as is the case in previous cabinets.], Kitty, Blair’s entertainment in Washington.

People have to stand up to them & they should be held accountable under the law. They are organised criminals.

Continue ReadingDRAFT, to be expanded: Charlie Hebdo false-flag in Paris

Some light Christmas reading

A few politics articles for light Christmas reading …

Why are taxpayers spending £60m on a bridge for Joanna Lumley?

The bridge has been sold as a new public right of way by Johnson. In reality it is anything but. TfL’s business case suggests that just 0.03% of all those using the bridge will be people making new trips. The rest will be either tourists or others already on the Southbank.

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So who will benefit from this bridge? Well according to the business plan, the biggest benefit of the bridge will be to “residential property values”. Incredibly, they estimate that the bridge will raise local property values by an estimated £84 million.

So excellent news for the tiny number of wealthy property owners in central London. Not so good news for the millions of people struggling to afford the cost of their monthly travelcard to work.

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TfL bury Boris bike fare hike under the Christmas tree

Bullingdon Tory idiot Boris Johnson

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The cycle hire scheme, perhaps Boris Johnson’s most notable achievement as mayor, has so far been serially underused, with a complex hiring mechanism turning potential users away.

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Promised “at no cost to taxpayers” it remains substantially subsidised to the tune of millions of pounds a year.

A poor value-for-money sponsorship deal with Barclays and a complex hiring mechanism, means that it has so far failed to generate anything like enough revenue to cover its costs.

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Iain Duncan Smith to meet Universal Credit target in 700 years’ timeImage of IDS Iain Duncan Smith

Ian Duncan Smith promised that more than a million people would be signed up to his universal credit scheme by April 2014, with twelve million signed up by 2017.

However, new figures released today reveal the DWP currently have just 17,850 people on their caseload.

This means that at the current rate of progress, it will take them almost 700 more years to meet their original target of twelve million.

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Christmas cannot be captured in fairytale endings, Archbishop warns

[T]he true spirit of Christmas cannot be captured in fairytale endings, the Archbishop of Canterbury will tell the faithful.

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Life-size cardboard Ed Miliband cutout ‘held HOSTAGE’ after being ‘stolen’ from County Hall

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A statement from Worcestershire County Council read: “We are aware that a life-sized picture has gone missing out of the Labour room within County Hall.

“Staff and elected members are working closely to ensure that it is returned and this situation is concluded.”

The cut-out is the same height as the Labour leader – at 5ft 9in.

It is alleged that prior to its disappearance, some staff members turned the cardboard Ed around so people walking past could only see his backside in the window.

Continue ReadingSome light Christmas reading

1%

I’d say that is pretty correct. 1% have a totally luxurious life of leisure. It could be 0.2% of course but 1% is a good target.

Continue Reading1%

I was trying to do some poetry

about

the 1% who own 50%

We (most certainly) don’t need them

the 1% who own 50%

But that’s what it’s all about

That’s what it’s all about

tbc …

If it’s all about this 1% that own 50%

then …

there is huge misdirection about why people are pissed off

shouldn’t they be pissed off with the 1% that own 50%

instead of each other?

Wouldn’t it be far more sensible and appropriate to hate the 1%?

Other tings are just nonsense, aren’t they?
1% are ridiculously rich, the rest of us scrape by.

It’s easy to remember isn’t it? the top 1% own 50% and the bottom 50% own 1%

Continue Reading