The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire
In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire
UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović
US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire
Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović Anti-Empire >>
A bird's eye view of the vineyard
Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb
The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog. We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader 2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of
The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by The Saker >>
Why a Nice Jewish Girl Went on a Tommy Robinson March Thu Aug 08, 2024 09:00 | Jacqui Fisher Tommy Robinson's "Uniting the Kingdom" march in July was widely condemned as "far Right". But 'nice Jewish girl' Jacqui Smith went on along because of its stand against antisemitism and found it anything but.
The post Why a Nice Jewish Girl Went on a Tommy Robinson March appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
In Episode 10 of the Sceptic: Claire Fox on the Riots, James Alexander on Labour?s Radical Devolutio... Thu Aug 08, 2024 07:00 | Will Jones In Episode 10 of the Sceptic, Laurie Wastell talks to Claire Fox on the riots, James Alexander on Labour's radical devolution agenda and J. Sorel on the tyranny of the Blob.
The post In Episode 10 of the Sceptic: Claire Fox on the Riots, James Alexander on Labour’s Radical Devolution Agenda and J. Sorel on the Tyranny of the Blob appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Thu Aug 08, 2024 01:22 | Richard Eldred A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
London and South East Warned of Net Zero Blackouts by National Grid Executives Wed Aug 07, 2024 20:00 | Will Jones National Grid executives have warned of blackouts before the end of the decade in London and the South East due to unreliable wind and solar power in private remarks that contradict the company's official position.
The post London and South East Warned of Net Zero Blackouts by National Grid Executives appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Met Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley Says Two-Tier Policing Claims Are ?Nonsense? and Put Police Officer... Wed Aug 07, 2024 17:56 | Will Jones Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has said claims of "two-tier" policing of civil disorder are "absolute nonsense" and are putting police officers in danger.
The post Met Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley Says Two-Tier Policing Claims Are “Nonsense” and Put Police Officers in Danger appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en
Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en
Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en
Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Irish Dissent report on Wednesday.
international |
summit mobilisations |
news report
Wednesday July 06, 2005 23:08 by sovietpop - dissent/wsm
![Report this post to the editors Report this post to the editors](../graphics/report.gif)
First day of the summit
As I type, the indymedia centre on site here is packed to gills as stories are uploaded to the many countries around the world. Sorry no photos today; it was just too damn wet.
What a long day.
The last thing we did before we went to bed last night,was have a barrio meeting at which we sorted ourselves into affinity groups. Affinity groups are small groups of friends who undertake to look after each other on a protest. Each group is divided into buddies - smaller groups of two or three who undertake to always have each other in line of site.
The 'short bus' arrived just after midnigh .Then most tried to get a couple of hours sleep, others waited around the campfire.
At two, the sleepy camp roused itself. It was raining heavily and in the dark it was difficult to see very far. Shouts of 'cat' , 'seomra sproai' and 'red diesel' rang out as the three affinity groups called out to their members. After assembling they shuffled to the main tent at which a crowd of about 600-800 had gathered. The throng then moved out of the camp with the intention of blockading the M9. After marching for distance, a police van arrived and followed behind. Soon later, a number of riot vans appeared (estimated about 6 vans, 100 riot police). They lined up at the end of the road, briefly splitting the group, who then retreated back down the road to a motorway junction. There was considerable confustion, as wet maps were consulted, directions considered, while in the background the black block smashed bank windows and constructed makeshift barricades.
This confusion continued all night. We discovered later that the police also very in considerable disarray as they had assumed that most of the protests would be occuring in Edinburgh. The wet weather, which made movement so difficult for us, also (apparently) slowed their use of police helicopers and sensing equipment. Used to urban tactics they seemed unsure of how to deal with prostestors in a rural setting. At times the group was split up, some returning the campsite, others moving through fields and towns until they eventually arrived at the motorway, which was blocaded and then shut down by the police. BBC reported that traffic was backed up all the way to Glasgow.
At the campsite people returned from actions in dribs and drabs throughout the day, some heading for sleep, some back out to other blocades which had been ongoing. At packed meetings a considerable list of actions was read out as a highly diverse actions (from clowns, to golfers, to hillwakers, to bikes, to car convoys, to lock ons) shut down roads leading to Gleneagles, some for only 10 minutes, some for up to 5 hours. My personal favorite was a report from the Kids Block who succeeded in breaching police lines, thus allowing some Black Blockers to escape. A member of the scottish parliament apparently said tht Dissent were a very organised group, a comment which brought a spontaneous burst of laughter at the meeting (perhaps 'differently organised' is more accurate).
There is a little concern that the police, embarrased by their failure, may move on the convergence camp, and meetings day discussed procedures in the event of that occurring. Particularily attention has been giving to ensuring that there are safe places for the many children that are on the site. One of the things that has most suprised me about this event is the wide range of age groups that are living here, in the meetings babies sit on laps, children play among the tents and at the other end of the spectrum are the many people in their fifties and sixies.
An Irish dissenter was detained by the London metropolitican police for wearing a Zapatista t-shirt (!!!) and questioned for about 20 mintues, before being released by another police force who said they had no right to detain him (tell that to the met).
Tonight the atmosphere is very different. The rain has finally stopped, and the surrounding countryside looks beautiful again. Though many are very tired, throughout the campsites the soundsystems are setting up, people are relaxing around the many campfires, and unwinding after a long, hectic day.
Tomorrow the G8 continues, solidarity action with those who have been imprisoned or detained (about 300 as far as I know, but there is no break down between those detained and those arrested) has been organised in Edinburgh.
I'm off for a drink now.
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (1 of 1)
Jump To Comment: 1In a similar vein to the night before, word filtered into my sleeping head that there were 'riot police in the camp site.' Awaking knackered and heading down to the Barrio meeting point, it emerged that police had gathered at a round a bout just outside the camp. The stronger police prescence probably comes as an attempt to prevent protesters leaving the camp for rural actions which left the police completely wrong footed in the wee hours of yesterday morning. The short bus which left at 8am this morning had to negotiate its way through the police barrier, while later in the day individuals were allowed to come and go once they consented to a search.