Something is happening in the Pillaga in western NSW. Coal Seam Gas exploration and drilling by Santos is under concerted attack. While the protests are not new, the profiles of those locking on or taking a stand are no longer the regular sterotype.
For as long as we can remember, history has been told by the winners.
They taught us that colonialism was necessary to civilize the barbarians. That the rule of law is there to protect us from evil. That the poor have to exist so that there can be rich people. That we are citizens of a nation because we were born in a particular territory. The idea that language and borders divide us have been drilled into us.
Among so much confusion, many of us have grown up worshipping the heroes that Walt Disney created to quench our thirst for rebellion. Superman was just a hook!
The San Francisco Indymedia site (www.indybay.org) has published a translated nine page Guide to intelligent protesting, which was distributed widely on the streets of Egypt. The guide shows how to non-violently defend yourself from riot police. As this Blog article states, we shouldn't just be cheering on the Egyptian revolution but learning from it.
Nine activists will face Geelong Magistrates Court tomorrow (Monday 29 Nov) on charges of obstructing a road and hindering police.
On the 16th of June the nine activists were arrested while blockading the road to Swan Island military base, a military installation heavily involved in supporting the war in Afghanistan.
Some of the people arrested at last September's civil disobedience at Hazelwood Power Station faced court today with supporters.
Related: Sept 2009 - Switch Off Hazelwood | Time to Replace Coal Power Station | Switch Off Hazelwood Campaign
Two hundred people blockaded Parliament House in Canberra today calling on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to secure a strong, legally binding treaty at the upcoming international climate negotiations in Copenhagen. Police arrested 130 people, although it is believed none were charged.
Talisman Sabre 09 is a biennial exercise that involves 20,000 U.S. & 7,000 Australian troops, fighter jets and warships, it is taking place in July in central Queensland, Australia.
Australian complicity in the U.S. war on the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan includes the present deployment of 600 Australian (SAS, Special Ops and infantry) troops in Afghanistan, detention in Australia of Afghani refugees fleeing the war and daily targeting information for U.S. bombardment coming from the U.S. N.S.A Pine Gap near outback Alice Springs.
