Weekly links - 11/11/2007

Given the date (Remembrance Sunday) it seems appropriate to start this week's links with peace-related topics.

PEACE

Action is planned at Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (the site of the first big anti-nuclear demos in Britain nearly 50 years ago)this week. A blockade is planned for Monday 12th November - more details at Block The Builders website. This is from the Block The Builders website -

The government published its white paper on the future of Britain's nuclear weapons on Monday 4 December 2006. This decision was made without any public debate.

The building work at Aldermaston continued throughout the so-called "debate"; millions are being invested in new facilities. Right now, work on the Orion laser - a key facility for the future of Britain's WMD project - is well underway.

AWE is now reported to be developing a new nuclear warhead. The new device, designated the High Surety Warhead is understood to be under development at AWE in conjunction with the US who want modernised "failsafe" nuclear firepower for its own submarine-launched Trident missiles.

Our government lies habitually and persistently to cover up its crimes and pretends it is operating a democracy. It then considers itself fit to bomb other countries for their lack of so called democracy. Government gets away with its crimes with active assistance from the police, our armed forces and private enterprise looking to line its pockets.

The development of new nuclear weapons and systems is illegal, immoral and is already proven to be provoking a 'new cold war'.

It is unimaginable to allow the crooks and criminals involved to operate and profit from such behaviour unchallenged. If you are not able to take direct action to confront the criminals and disrupt their profits please join us in support. There are many non-arrestable roles in the Block the Builders campaign which always need filling!

OIL

From the nuclear threat to another major threat - the looming oil crisis. The film A Crude Awakening was on show around the UK this week. It was reviewed in the summer here and here.

EDUCATION

A recent book release was Francis Beckett's The Great City Academy Fraud. This is a very timely book outlining the implications of the New Labour stategy for education and local democracy. Fortunately, the book is not just doom and gloom but shows how people have fought back against the theft of local democratically controlled education.

BLOG AWARDS

Results have been declared in the 2007 Weblog Awards. The left blog of Neil Clark fought off strong competition to be voted best UK blog. I do not always agree with Clark - he sometimes allows anti-imperialist dogma to get in the way of basic humanitarianism - but I would rather he won through than the sometimes rather rabid rightists who have for too long dominated the UK blogosphere.
You can still vote for this blog however, over at the Daily (Maybe) where Jim is running a Top 20 Green Bloggers poll.

AROUND THE BLOGS


I mentioned Jim Jay's blog earlier, and also Beckett's book on education - the two are brought together in Jim's recent post on the topic of education, with a range of interesting links and perceptive comment here.

An interesting guest post from Louise at the Socialist Unity blog on the private vultures circling the welfare state.

Finally this week a plug for the Green Party Trade Union Group blog - which carries photos of Green participation in last week's NHS demo in London.