UAEM - University of Leeds

This is a document that we produced in 2009.
UAEM briefing document

Why Profit

I've always wondered about this, about the logic of it. And how most seem to defend it with ferocity.

Why must there be profit? Money that is siphoned off. Wages yes, need to be paid, but profit and extortionate bonuses and dividends? Why? It doesn't make sense to me.

The latest issue that has made me think about this again is Train Companies. The government gives contracts out to train operators to run our train services. It is a vital network. We must be able to move around the country, whether locally or further afield. If we must focus on it, the economy is dependent on it. Opportunities are dependent on our being able to move about. Social mobility - without cheap, efficient and available transport people are stuck in their own backyard. And for a greener future - encouraging public transport over cars is a must. Overall, the transport network and specifically the rail network is a vital public good.

So surely, the focus of running a train network should be on providing cheap but good services. Not profit. It seems a waste. That money could be spend on better wages for the employees or better infrastructure, or the price of travel lowered. Instead we have companies that are posting record profits - and yet this January they are planning a ticket price hike of up to 9%. Families already spend a huge proportion of their incomes on travel - this could break them further. I know it will me - and I am already limited in where and how frequently I can travel - trains in this country are already prohibitively expensive.

Surely there will be talented and very good people available to run these services who aren't driven with the need for profit. It won't scare people away. There could even be more initiative and creativity by focusing on employing those people. Or if people are scared away, we don't need them - if they aren't willing to put people and the planet first. It does not mean becoming stagnant.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

Liar Liar - No to Cuts - Captain SKA

This is a brilliant tune for our times and protests. It's released today - Sunday 12th December - and lets make it number one for christmas and send a very strong, auditory and visual message to our people and the government. All money is going to charity - I don't know which but i hope it's one that supports and enables protesters - it can be a costly thing to devote yourself too, let alone all the others out their we are protesting to protect. So in solidarity, watch this, buy it, join the facebook group and get it trending on twitter!!!!!

George Osborne 

I want my children to think that our generation paid off its debts, valued it's savers, rewarded responsibility, and invested in their future.

And because I want it for my children,  I want it for your children too. 

I want it for everyone's children, because we are all in this together.

he's a liar, liar

oh

he's a liar liar

oh, you can't trust him

  no no no no

he's a liar liar

oh

he's a liar liar

oh, you can't trust him

no no no no

we all know politicians like to lie

big ones, little ones, porky pies

say we are in it together, all disguise (?)

we're all being taken for a ride

little men from a little society, tearing up the benefits of society

take the pinstripe suits, and show them the door

cut the rich not the poor

Nick Clegg

we are achieving some great things already in this government

i hope each and everyone of you is as proud as I am of what we have already achieved

we are finally putting liberal values at the heart of british government,

he's a liar, liar

oh

he's a liar liar

oh, you can't trust him

  no no no no

he's a liar liar

oh

he's a liar liar

oh, you can't trust him

no no no no

if you buy an apple but you get a pear

you would complain it would not be fair

so if you vote for the left and they turn to the right

it's your duty to put up a fight

even though the votes have long been count

it's still possible to make your mark

do everything in your power, you can

people rise up 

overturn their plan

David Cameron

this government will not cut the deficit in a way that hurts those we most need to help

in a way that divides our country

or in a way that undermines the spirit and ethos of our vital public services

Margaret Thatcher

this government is pursing the only policy which gives any hope of bringing our people back to real and lasting employment

This government

This government

This government

This government

he's a liar, liar

oh

he's a liar liar

oh, you can't trust him

  no no no no

he's a liar liar

oh

he's a liar liar

oh, you can't trust him

no no no no

SILENT ON SCREEN

if you believe this coalition government are wrong

do everything you can to make a change

JOIN    BLOG    WRITE      EMAIL     HASSLE     HUSSLE     SHOUT     SCREAM       PROTEST

AND PASS THIS VIDEO LINK ALONG

HAPPY SAILING

Shame On You For Turning Blue

That seems an adequate title since my last post, all those months ago, was advocating for people to vote Lib Dem to temper the likelihood of a harsh Tory government.

Nick Clegg - Shame on you for turning blue --  it was a favourite chant at the march and parliament protest about education last Thursday that I was apart of.



I wholeheartedly agree. What is happening to our society, and our democracy, in the name of reducing the deficit (not created by us) is a disgrace. What the police are doing to us and the right to protest is also a disgrace. I'll describe what I witnessed it more detail soon, but the one thing that I will never forget is watching a group of police horses charging from standstill at speed into a roughly 50+ protester deep tightly packed crowd, and staring gobsmaked and with slight panic as the crowd turned to run towards me to escape. The other is being kettled or detained by riot police on Westmister Bridge with a clear view of lit up Big Ben and the London Eye till 11.15pm (the intial official kettling started at 3.30pm). This in the freezing cold, many with very few layers, no food, water or toilet facilities. And the media complain that people were seen urinating on statues. Many fires were started just to give ourselves some semblance of warmth.

These are two accounts from the day that I'd like to share for now. One is from young freelance journalist Red Penny here.

The other is a guy called Kit who suffered a serious head injury from the police on the day:

What follows is clumsily written, but my head still hurts like murder and I can't bring myself to think about it too clearly. I hope that it can stand for now as a preliminary report of my experience at the protest.

I was on the edge of a group of protesters in Parliament Square, standing peacefully. We weren't even moving. Suddenly, police on foot in full body armour (and wearing balaclavas so we couldn't recognise them) charged us with batons raised. I was pushed backwards into the people behind me in the initial charge but the crushed and scared crowd pushed back to stop everyone falling over. I saw several around me hit by batons and fall, screaming. I was then hit over the head by a baton, hard enough to knock me sideways, then hit again, I think by the same officer. My ears rang, everything went quiet and I couldn't hold my balance. My knees gave way and I fell over. An officer stepped forward and deliberately stamped his foot into my chest, winding me. Another officer rested his boot on my head. A huge man, a protester, who had stood next to me picked me up and held my bleeding head in front of the police (this I have heard from him as I was semi- or un-conscious). They did not hit him but did not move aside. He repeatedly screamed for a medic but the police pretended not to hear him although it was clear to look at me that I needed one. He held me in both arms and pushed at the police line with his shoulder. They pushed back once, but then let him through - but hit a man who tried to follow. Next to him, a police officer spontaneously collapsed, apparently feigning unconsciousness. As the officer was not on the front line, had had nothing thrown at him and was wearing full body armour including helmet with visor down, he could not have been injured. The only nearby medic immediately tended to this officer, who had apparently faked an injury. Both medics and police ignored me and my friend who shouted repeatedly for assistance. Giving up, he half walked half carried me to hospital. Once there he attempted to get police to take a statement from me but was told there were none available.I spent three hours in hospital, dizzy, bleeding from the head and being repeatedly sick. My speech was apparently slurred and I have poor memory of what happened for the rest of the day. I had been told to stay overnight but feeling scared and victimised from being hit I left and returned home. The man who'd saved me was named Adam but I never learnt his surname. He left once I'd assured him I was fine as he had friends still at the demo and was worried about them.

I could justify being violent as using subjective violence against sytemic violence. I could justify being violent as I saw the innocent being beaten to the ground around me. More than anything, I could justify ripping the armour from these heavily armed cowards, as to hit people so heavily protected could never be called violence.

But I didn't. I didn't lift a finger. I didn't push. I didn't even shout "fuck the police" as I should have. I didn't have the chance to. I was beaten to the ground, and stamped on when unconscious by brutal men who couldn't have cared if they'd killed me.

I later learned I was one of the luckier ones. I am thinking of Alfie today, and of others who might not have made the news. Thanks to everybody who has sent me messages of support - it's meant a lot. I can't describe how confused, frightened and victimised I felt, bleeding and vomiting in a hospital bed. I'm not ashamed to say I cried a few times.

I hear Bob Brecher has suggested the police were ordered to scare protesters into not coming back. I'm coming back. They have no idea how strong they've entrenched hatred in me, hatred for their actions, their facelessness, their carelessness, their inhumanity.

We're all coming back. For Alfie, for everyone who was hurt, and most of all for the countless wrecked lives that will never make the headlines - the poor, the disabled, the homeless, the students, everyone in the gunsights of this government. We're all coming back.

Vote Lib Dem

Liberal Democrat is the closest party to my political and passionate beliefs that I am going to get that also has an electoral chance. I'm being pragmatic, and I really do believe they can make a difference to this country across the board. Just at the moment they are sidelined too much. The other parties are getting away with murder. So I am voting Liberal Democrat. And maybe next time with better election rules I can think about voting differently.

So vote, register to vote if you haven't already. You have until just about the end of March, do so here, it's so important: https://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/register_to_vote/electoral_registration_applica.aspx

You fill in an electronic form, print it off and post it to the address it provides of your local electoral office. 

Even if you are not sure if you are registered or not, this can tell you for sure. Remember you are never registered forever, they continually renew the list every year. 

I really hope you do vote, whoever you vote for, because voting does matter and it's been hard fought for over the years. And if you need a prompt, :), vote LibDem, they really do have a chance this year to keep the other parties in balance and to make our country better, to keep the poison of the other 2 away. 

Here is their website:

http://www.libdems.org.uk/

And this nifty little website is where you can check up on what your current MP has been up to. Just put in your postcode and fire away:

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ 

Celia

A day in hand, why not

A Day In Hand is this great campaign that started about this time last year.

Same-sex hand holding (Sshh): Our silent revolution

This campaign's aim is to INSPIRE and SUPPORT same-sex couples who want to hold their partner's hand in public. "...when you're trying just to be thought of as a human being, the smallest victories feel like huge ones." You don't have to fight to change the world. Promote love and equality by the simple act of holding hands.

Direct Action. One of those great tactics of activist groups. You normally see it attached to breaking the law and wilfully getting yourself in trouble to prove a point. Well, this is a bit more simple, depending on where you live of course, and that can make a huge difference! But it can make such a difference ... to yourself, others and society. 
Support this great cause.

Can you depend on a stranger?

I just got an email about this scheme in Leeds where I used to live, Short Stop Accommodation.

http://www.lassn.org.uk/short_stop.htm

They run a team of people who open their homes to asylum seekers who are temporarily homeless. A free warm bed and hot meal and a smiling face when your world is turning to shit, or shittier than the normal shit in the middle of shit. Some friends were very active in the Asylum world and told me stories of the horror these people experience. One man was fleeing from the Congo I think, where he'd been tortured for years and seen numerous horrors and believed that his wife and daughter had been raped and killed. He's still in the process of claiming residency and threats he could be sent back. Only to now find that his daughter is alive but being sent to Australia because the UK has said it's quota is full and Australia agreed to accept a small number of children. He would be denied going there, and she denied here. How cruel. The housing situation is desperate too, with the small amount of money they receive to live while being denied the ability to work (or face being detained or worse), it's no wonder a lot of them face homelessness at some point. But in the middle of all that stress, it must be horrible.

I'd like to think that I can depend on a a stranger. And that I can be that stranger too. Would you?

Have you ever been in one of those situations where your life is going to hell and a kind touch is so welcome and surprising. Lifesaving. Or been in a stinking bad mood and the smile and nice comment from a stranger on the bus has lifted the day. I want to be that person. I've certainly learnt who my friends are when it comes to personal and family disasters, especially the prolonged type ones. You come to treasure them, and often it's simple things that make the most difference. Simple things that everyone can give, but don't think they have enough room in their life to do so. Certain boundaries are welcome though, you don't want to give away your soul.

But it sure makes life interesting :D!

I've had people live in my house all my life. It's been a fixture :-). Most of my stories come from those times, when we've taken someone in or some other weird thing has been undertaken to help a near stranger or friend :-). Yes, it got too much, but that's because my mum was ill and was trying to solve all the worlds problems in one go. So, although we do have one guy currently living with us (his wife ended things), not something I can do here. Sooo. I need to move out. Or as soon as I do :p ... strangers here we come.

And if there isn't a scheme in whatever city I end up living in, maybe it'll be worth while starting one. If I end up homeless through some shitty series of events I'd be so grateful and touched if someone did this for me. And if you're in Leeds this January, they are doing more volunteer training, give it a go.

Coffee Time

This takes up a lot of my day. I don't seem to have anything better to do. Even when I am working I find time for this :-). But alongside the coffee (which is more necessity to keep me lucid) are two online newspapers that I don't think I could ever do without. I'm addicted. The second one I'm sort of aspiring to be like, certainly I want to take part in their school maybe next year. Maybe I'll even get those documentary skills. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/ 

The best source of all my news and discussion. I don't agree with everything they write, but it's the closest mainstream paper I'm going to get. And I learn a lot daily. You could too. 

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/

Al Giordano started this a decade ago and it mainly covers South America or the 'Americas'. But that particular blog covers the US politics. Investigative journalism, sigh. And change achieving, double sigh. Working with people, triple sigh. He kept me sane during the American primaries as I was following it during my final year and really having Lots of coffee breaks as I was supposed to be typing away at essays. He has an amazing insight and praxis that is a joy to read and reflect on, especially putting everything else into perspective. It's his journalism school, which is free of course courtesy of donations, that I'm going to work hard to get accepted into next year. Yes, if no other goals, this one really is worth it. If I keep telling myself that ...... ;-). 

Going Through the Formats

Since the theme seems to be things that have inspired me, or at least reached me on some level. Here is Muse and their new album The Resistance.

They're political, of course. But I like the sound. The guy is very talented.

Paranoia is in bloom,
The PR transmissions will resume
They'll try to, push drugs that keep us all dumbed down
And hope that, we will never see the truth around
(so come on)
Another promise, another seed
Another, packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed
And all the, Green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless, red tape to keep the truth confined
(so come on)

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
so come on

Interchanging mind control
Come let the, revolution takes its toll
If you could, flick the switch and open your third eye
You'd see that
We should never be afraid to die
(so come on)

Rise up and take the power back
It's time the fat cats had a heart attack
They know that their time's coming to an end
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not enslave us
We will be victorious

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They can not control us
We will be victorious

Or another of my favourites, very favourite.

FEELING GOOD

Birds flying high you know how I feel

Sun in the sky you know how I feel

Reeds driftin' on by you know how I feel

It's a new dawn

It's a new day

It's a new life

For me

And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea you know how I feel

River running free you know how I feel

Blossom in the tree you know how I feel

It's a new dawn

It's a new day

It's a new life

For me

And I'm feeling good

Dragonfly out in the sun

you know what I mean, don't you know

Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean

Sleep in peace when day is done

That's what I mean

And this old world is a new world

And a bold world

For me

Stars when you shine you know how I feel

Scent of the pine you know how I feel

Freedom is mine

And I know how I feel

Inspiring film

I want to be a documentary maker. Or at least, it's an idea at the moment when I don't have many that I like. Just no skills, and no idea how to go about getting them. Or what to film, apart from social justice stuff, and education. But maybe it's like this one, you end up in the middle of it, and the inspiration and the subject comes to you.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

If you've not seen this, then prepare to be inspired and gobsmacked. And angry and outraged and amazed.

My Reading List Begins

  
A Doctor in Galilee: The Life and Struggle of a Palestinian in Isreal

A friend bought this for my birthday. So far I've read the first 3 chapters. So many issues, so many social struggles, so much to learn. My bookshelf is growing and although I want to understand the world, and injustice, to not be ignorant, there's too much and I seem to struggle to force myself to read the words, I have a kind of block. So it may take me a while to read. Not that it stops me from recommending things to friends and insisting they read the stuff because it's brilliant. The plight of these people is awful though, and so misunderstood, deliberately spread to be misunderstood and causing such a divide. Anyway, this book is the memories of a doctor from Galilee :). He tells of his time growing up there and working there, trying to put in public health systems and the resistance and discrimination he faces all the way by Israel. One hot topic. But I can't see how people can't be moved by the story when they actually know the details and not just the rhetoric. The introduction, by Jonathan Cook, is heartbreaking though, as he goes through the systemic discrimination and the historic details and policies of Israel.

The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical


This is another amazing book. A random guy, or sort of friend, acquaintance I met once and never likely to meet again gave it to me. Though he was nice, and I wouldn't mind seeing him again. He was living with a guy on my course. He was a printer, and his philosophy in life was simply love I think. That and he got involved in everything, he tried things, he rambled through life, was creative and took part in campaigns. The friend who gave me the above book met him randomly on a protest for No Borders, he'd seen a leaflet calling for help and thought why not, seems something worthy, even though it was at 8am (eek, for me at least). But he's not a christian, even though this book is the sort of journal of a christian. Anyway, it's about a different type of christian or person. A different way to live. And get involved in great things. One of my favourite tales is when he stood up at the Republican conference when G. Bush Jnr. was about to give a speech (before he was elected) and ripped of his suit to reveal a t-shirt with a quote on it, at the same time as shouting the quote (basically don't steal from the poor) before getting dragged of stage and put in a closet by the secret service. He then hilariously overhears them discussing what to do: they can arrest him if he is an activist, so when confronted and they ask him if he is one, he replies no, I'm a prophet. And they have to let him go.

Lots more books that have inspired my last year, but for now, chow.

@ Home

I'm stuck at home. And stuck because I have stuck myself here. My life's empty at the moment. The tumbling has stopped, and I don't know which direction to throw myself off next, just that maybe I'm ready for it to start spinning again. Or maybe not.

I'm 22 and have only a dissertation to complete, start, before I get the letters MA after my name. Not that I'd ever remember to put them there, or care.

I've always pushed myself to move forward, to always have projects on the go. But now I feel like at a dead-end, or rather maybe that the road has completely disintegrated around me, as if it was all an illusion. I need my get-up-and-go. Anyway, my life feels like it's at a beginning, the old is all old, everything about what I was detached. I'm not even crossing the start line though, not even sure if I want to, or what the race is or what I want it to be. I'm drifting. And that's been fine. Just now I'm getting bored.

So what next.