FINANCIAL FOOLS DAY – ‘Give ‘em hell’

A good friend of the Barnsdale Brigade (who’s had his home repossessed thanks to the actions of the bastard bankers) sent the following sentiments…

On the advice of my dear old mother there are few things I regret in life (she was a big Edith Piaf fan), but I must say that I regret not being able to make my way to London tomorrow. I’ve never been keen on the big protest thing (not when there’s so much work to be done on our own doorsteps), but those who take a stand tomorrow do so with the full backing of the people. The actions of Bank Bosses Are Criminals (BBAC) were met with the near universal support of the general public – which is the only true legitimacy (especially when the government and the law has so blatantly abandoned the people) – and those who have decided to mark Financial Fools Day (in whichever way they choose) shall be validated in the same way. The old slogan, No Justice, Just Us, has rarely seemed so apt.

One good thing about a recession is that the rich and the powerful (and their apologists) begin to stand out like a sore thumb; even those who were happily placated by their X-Boxes and widescreen TVs begin to feel the first stirrings of class consciousness – and they know exactly where to point the finger. The Lindsey Refinery Wildcat Strikes (which showed how useless anti-union laws really are), the Waterford factory occupation (which showed that the unions must, once again, yield to the will of the people), the  BBAC trashing Goodwin’s property (which was met with such widespread support from Joe Public even though property damage has been generally frowned upon in the past)  and now Financial Fools Day (it’s impossible to know what will happen there, but I’ve always been impressed by the predictions of the Kaiser Chiefs); there’s certainly something in the air. It may not be revolution, but it’s caught the usual political monsters (both left and right) completely off [van]guard and has shown that you should never underestimate the people. So good luck for tomorrow guys and gals, give ‘em hell - it’s no less than they’ve given us!

Kind regards,

W

…the future starts here!

The Poverty of Education and the Education of Poverty

The Jesuits‘ are famous for saying “Give me a child until he is seven and we will give you the man.” - which is a bloody good argument against teaching religion in schools! They recognised that a person’s entire life can be shaped by childhood experiences and they sought to profit from the fact. Unfortunately a new study has shown that what is true for religious brainwashing is also true for socio-economic status.

Three experts were asked to examine the life chances of children in a deprived part of the Cynon Valley in south Wales for the BBC ’Week In Week Out’ programme. They found that poverty starts to damage a child’s education by the time they are seven.

This will come as no surprise to anyone who understands the nature of class in Britain, as Action Against Classism say…

Economic inequality in the UK is at the highest it has been since records began in 1961. A child’s social class background at birth is still the best indicator of how well he or she will do in school and later on in life. The lower your socio-economic position the greater your risk of low birth-weight, infections, cancer, coronary heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, accidents, nervous and mental illnesses – in other words, class can kill!

The only people seem at all surprised by the findings are the so called experts. Prof David Egan is quoted as saying…

“Despite their best efforts, the schools have been unable to break the almost symbiotic link…between socio-economic disadvantage and low educational achievement.”

Doesn’t the professor realise that modern schools were invented at the same time as prisons and factories; despite what even our teachers themselves believe our education system was designed to benefit capital and therefore it has played a major role in the systematic creation the socio-economic divide. Schools cannot “break the [...] link [...] between socio-economic disadvantage and low educational achievement” because they helped to maintain that link in the first place!

“FOR YOUR PROTECTION” = an epitaph for Liberty

Controversial spying laws that were supposedly designed to fight ’serious crime’ have - surprise, surprise - been regularly abused by councils throughout England and Wales; but the extent of the abuse is startling. 

According to the government’s ‘Office of Public Sector Information’ (OPSI – more like fucking ‘Oopsie’ if you ask us), The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa) “Provides for the interception of user logs and e-mails of suspected criminals by the security and intelligence services.” So far the Act has been used for the prevention of serious crimes like dogs shitting and the inappropriate use of chewing gum.

In five years UK councils have used the Act a staggering 10,000 times! - and we’re then expected to believe that things like the proposed National Database, compulsory ID Cards  and new ‘Anti-Terror’ laws will not be abused by present or future governments and local authorities.

The laws of England were founded on the principles enshrined by Magna Carta, principles that were originally intended to guarantee equal rights for all; regardless of their class, wealth, privilege or any other accident of birth. Magna Carta lay the foundation for things like trail by jury, Habeas Corpus,  the right to silence, the assumption of innocence before being proven guilty (all things which have been ignored by the present government – which, under Magna Carta, invalidates their right to govern).  But despite the Charters of Liberty (the Magna Carta combined with the oft forgotten/ignored Charter of the Forest – which guarantees our share of the natural resources of England) the laws of England now put the desires of the rich and powerful before the needs of the vast majority of people.

Men, women and children throughout history have died for the Liberties that we are now prepared to let slip through our fingers for the sake of our – so called – ’security’. If you feel safe thanks to the growing Database State then good luck to you, but you’d do well to remember the words of Benjamin Franklin…

“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

For most of us this slow whittling away of our liberties will spell disaster for ourselves and our kids. Anyone who is not (quite literally) a card carrying member of Middle England will live as a second class citizen. The law has already failed the vast majority of us – this is why Bank Bosses Are Criminals (BBAC) were forced to break the law in order to seek justice – once again the ‘Just’ have been forced to become ‘Outlaws’, once again it’s a choice between Liberty or the Law – so who’s side are you on?

Three Cheers for ‘Bank Bosses Are Criminals’

A group calling themselves Bank Bosses Are Criminals (BBAC) have claimed responsibility for the attack on Sir Fred (the Shred) Goodwin’s house and car. The much loathed former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive had his plush Edinburgh mansion trashed and his prized Mercedes S600 badly damaged in the dawn attack – just 24-hrs after it was revealed his former employers still pick up the tab for insuring his fleet of luxury motors.

The BBAC issued a statement saying…

“We are angry that rich people, like him, are paying themselves a huge amount of money, and living in luxury, while ordinary people are made unemployed, destitute and homeless.

This is a crime. Bank bosses should be jailed.

This is just the beginning.”

Anyone who has any sympathy for Goodwin should take note of the following facts (borrowed from Deadline Scotland)…

Sir Fred’s expensive tastes

Wallpaper costing £1000 per roll was allegedly used to decorate the lobby outside Sir Fred’s office after a small stain was spotted on one wall.

And it has also been claimed two huge RBS boardrooms were re-carpeted twice, at a cost of £100 per square yard, because Sir Fred did not like the colour.

Other allegations recently leveled against the beleaguered banker include splashing out £100,000-a-month on part-time chauffeurs and having fruit specially flown in from Paris.

And it has also been revealed that the reviled banking boss has just opened an account at a private bank reserved for the super-rich.

Prestigious bank Adam & Company, which is based in Edinburgh’s exclusive Charlotte Square, claims to deliver a personal service to clients with “complex financial affairs”.

The exclusive bank, who have offices in Edinburgh, London and Guernsey, were bought over by RBS in 1993, but operate as a private bank with RBS as the parent company.

Taking A Peepo At Your Bebo – Gordon Brown Gets In You Facebook!

If Brown’s government minister’s get their own way everyone who uses a social network like Bebo, Facebook, Myspace or Twitter – some 25 million people in the UK – will have their conversations logged and stored on a central government database. The excuse, as usual, is that it’s for our own safety – if we’ve done nothing wrong then we’ve got nothing to fear.

This move is supposedly designed to protect us from those old chestnuts, ‘crime’ and ‘terrorism’ – everyone who’s used Facebook will, of course, be familiar with groups like “Plan Your Perfect Bank Job” and “Which is better? Semtex or TNT?”

As Jack Straw proved recently with his laughable ‘Bill of Rights’ the government doesn’t understand the nature of rights and liberties; they’re not granted to us by the ‘Ministry of Justice’, they are the inalienable birthright of ALL people, the most basic obligations owed to each and every human being which are universal and non-conditional. If governments have any real use (and the Barnsdale Brigade seriously doubt that they do) it is to ensure these rights. If humans are to live to their full potential then each of these basic rights must guaranteed – no single right can be abused even if it is supposedly to help another right – such as the abuse of the right to freedom to protect the right to life -which is the excuse the government using. Whoever infringes upon our rights and liberties – be they criminals, terrorists or governments – is, by default, an enemy of the people and therefore forego any right to govern over us.

More things YOU can do to fight the DATABASE STATE

The following ideas are from No CCTV…

• Get informed!
• Join your local NO2ID – NO2ID
• Subscribe to the NO2ID newsletter – NO2ID
• Take the NO2ID pledge – NO2ID
• Set up a local No CCTV – No CCTV
• Find out the location of CCTV cameras in your area – whatdotheyknow.com
• Set up a CCTV treasure hunt – The CCTV Treasure Hunt
• Take photos of the police
• NHS database opt out – NHS Confidentiality
• Secondary use service opt out – NHS Confidentiality
• Protect children from the Contact Point database – Kensignton & Chelsea council
• Reclaim DNA taken – Gene Watch
• Street campaigns
• Cut up credit cards
• Get rid of your mobile phone
• Submit Freedom of Information requests – whatdotheyknow.com
• Write to your MP – writetothem.com
• Write to your local media
• Tell all your friends, family, colleagues

You can join the No CCTV mailing list here

This Easter Join the Great CCTV Egg Hunt!!!

In light of yesterday’s post about the Rowntree Trust’s Database State report and Snookcocker’s remarks regarding Jack Straw’s Bill of Rights the Barnsdale Brigade are helping to launch a few new projects for the Doncaster area. Over the coming weeks there will be a launch meeting for the newly formed Doncaster branch of No2ID who can be contacted via doncaster@no2id.net; there are also talks under way about the prospect of launching a Doncaster No CCTV group and there’s a rather special project called The Live Free Society which we’ll talk about in a future blog.

For those of you who can’t wait and for those unfortunate enough not to live in Donny we recommend a visit to the great CCTV Treasure Hunt site. It’ll make a pleasant change from looking for eggs this Easter!

Hunt them before THEY HUNT YOU!

OFFICIAL – UK Databases Breach European Data Protection & Universal Human Rights Laws

A new report entitled Database State by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust shows just how far towards fascism the modern UK state is leaning.  The so called ‘War on Terror’ has been used to introduce practices and laws that our forebears would have found utterly abhorrent (in fact our ancestors have won hard fought battles throughout history to ensure basic freedoms for all – Magna Carta anyone?). The excuses are always the same “It’s for your protection.” and “The innocent have nothing to fear.”

How many times have we heard the same old bullshit, how many times have they guaranteed that there’s nothing to worry about - tell that to the people who’s details were on the Child Benefit Database discs that were ‘lost’ in October, 2007!

The report finds that only 6 out of 46 databases assessed have “a proper basis for any privacy intrusions and are proportionate and necessary in a democratic society.” Unfortunate no blatantly classed divided society has the right to call itself ‘democratic’ – and this isthe most openly class divided country on the planet!

As for the finacial costs – the government already spends 16 billion a year on IT and they’re planning to spend an extra 100 billion pounds of public money (which they’ll probably have to borrow seeing as we’re now skint thanks to them already giving our money to the banks) on their ‘Transformational Governement’ (aka ‘Techno-Fascist’) programme over the next 5 years even though only 30% of government IT projects actually succeed.

Databases and ID Cards are bad, but when combined with video surveilliance they become positively dangerous.

Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has already warned that the UK was running the risk of “sleep-walking into a surveillance society. [...] In the last 10 or 15 years a great deal of surveillance in public and private places has been extended without sufficient thought to the risks and consequences, [...] Our society is based on liberty and democracy. I do not want to see excessive surveillance hardwired into British society.”And this from a man who actually has faith in government!

Health Service is failing our kids – just like every other service in Britain!

Sir Ian Kennedy has been appointed to lead a health watchdog that has been set up to examine why the health service is failing children in the UK. Sir Ian is quoted as saying…

“What is getting in the way of doing what almost all right-minded people would think was a fundamental social obligation to its next generation? I wish I knew the answer.”

Well, Ian, here are a few clues for yer… GREED, CLASS & PRIVILEGE

Every public service in the UK has become infected with the same ineffectual practices; practices which benefit the rich and the middle classes at the expense of  services for the working class. Meritocracy, sham public consultancy, over paid (under qualified) managers and a lack of accountability – this recipe for disaster has been repeated throughout the public service sector; and all in the name of profit!

The neoliberal socio-economic system (started by Thatcher’s Conservatives and pushed to new levels by New Labour) has widened the gap between rich and poor and made social mobility near impossible. Public services inevitably came to reflect the class divide and slowly two tier services (one for the ‘haves’ and the other for the rest of us) became the norm.   For a while we were kept happy thanks to our new gadgets and gizmos which we bought on readily available credit, but now, as times get hard, the cracks are starting to appear.

If we want a good health service – or any other public service for that matter – we’re gonna have to rescue it from the hands of the privileged few.

The Poverty Profiteers – Bastards Every One Of ‘Em

Unfortunately the Barnsdale Brigade went to ground for a while (quite literally, it was onion planting week last week!) and we missed the fact that some real scum were paying a visit to South Yorkshire. Auction Today are parasites who sell off repossessed homes, like their American counterparts (who put on extravagant shows that make a mockery of people’s suffering) these detestable bastards profiteer from the fact that tens of thousands of families are losing their homes thanks to the greed of bankers and shareholders.

We missed the fuckers when they visited our patch, but they’ll be at a town near you soon…

Auction Date	Auction Inventory and Venue Information
31st. Mar.	Newcastle- The North East, Scotland and Northern Ireland | REMOTE BIDDING AVAILABLE
1st. Apr.	Leeds- Yorkshire and East Midlands
2nd. Apr.	Birmingham- The Midlands and South Wales
4th. Apr.	Manchester- The North West and North Wales | REMOTE BIDDING AVAILABLE
5th. Apr.	London- The South and East Anglia

Auction Today and those who seek to profit from their services are scum, why not sign up and pay them a visit and tell them what you think?