Bath Badger Lovers Walk - Opposing the Cull

Badger Cull demonstration outside the Guildhall in Bath

 Following a previous demonstration against the badger cull in the city centre, around 25 badger activists took to the streets on 6th May bank holiday to protest the cull. Organised by Bath Badger Walk and promoted by Bath Against the Badger Cull, the demonstration sought to publicise the negative impact of the cull and provide advice on how to combat it.

Starting out at the Guildhall, the badgerists then hit Milsom Street armed with leaflets, placards and a badger puppet and engaged with the public about the badger cull. A nice surprise was found at Lush, who had a Stop The Cull box displayed in the window.

Stop the Cull box in the Bath Lush window

Finally, the roving demonstration moved to Starbucks to protest against their sourcing of milk from the cull zones. The manager was annoyed at our presence, but no security or police came to move us on (it should be noted that since this demo took place, Starbucks has stopped sourcing milk from the cull zones).

With the anti-cull campaign gaining momentum, demonstrations such as this are only going to attract more and more people. Cull supporters of Bath - beware!

For more on the badger cull, see The Badger Cull - What You Need to Know

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Starbucks Tax Avoidance Demo in Bath

Demo outside Starbucks, High St, Bath, 8 December 2012

The huge multinational coffee chain Starbucks recently made headlines when it was reported that they have not paid corporation tax in three years... despite being, well, a huge multinational world-fucking coffee chain. Following a public outcry, Starbucks offered to pay a token amount of tax and attempted to make out that they make little profit in the UK. That they are in a position where they can themselves dictate how much tax they can pay, whereas smaller businesses have little or no choice but to pay the full amount is an unfortunate symptom of the this hyper-capitalist society promoted by whatever mainstream party the population gets brainwashed into voting into power by Murdoch et al. (seriously - remember the headline "It's the Sun wot won it"? They even admit to supporting parties that have no fucking interest in the well-being of the majority of the population. Burn every copy on sight - Ed). What's more, Starbucks stated that they intend to take out it out on their workers by cutting their employee benefits. Having perused a copy of a revised contract, I can confirm that this is the case. In response to this, UK Uncut announced a day of action for 8 December 2012.

Well, like most big issues, the switched on residents of Bath decided to take things into their own hands. Yet again, a coalition of activists from various groups (as well as non affiliated individuals), including BARF, Occupy Bath, Bath Anti-Cuts Alliance, Socialist Worker Party and others set up shop outside our local branch on the High Street. Armed with a huge urn filled with hot water, cups, spoons, fairtrade tea and coffee and soya milk, as well as two huge banners, we not only showed our discontent, but actively subverted their business by giving away free hot beverages.

More info on national demos here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/09/starbucks-stores-uk-uncut-protest

BARF write-up here: https://network23.org/barf/2012/12/09/bath-starbucks-demo/

Bath Chronicle article here: http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Protest-Starbucks-tax-policy-outside-Bath-branch/story-17547078-detail/story.html

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Political Perspectives #5: Thoughts on Meditation and Revolution

This is the fifth in an occasional series of posts on the various political perspectives of those involved in activism in the Bath/Bristol area. The views expressed are those of the respective authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of Standing Stone.

Thoughts on Meditation and Revolution

by Simon Jilley

At Saturday's Starbucks demo, vibrancy-activist 'G. Rilla' along with some of the Bath Love Police sprawled a large banner across the pavement by the side of the Free Shop and sat in silence.  Questions were raised at the time, such as: 'The.....real...change..is...here...and.......now....?'; 'What is this all about?'; 'Is he asleep?'; 'How long are you going to stay here for?'; 'Does he want a banana?'; and many more.  This blog entry, which has been specifically requested by Standing Stone, will seek to tell stories about these questions whilst also, perhaps, answering them.  Through this exploration of these questions and those answers, it is anticipated that you, the reader, will formulate your own idea of what it is that has happened.  Firstly, a bit of context will be given.

Vibrancy-activist G. Rilla

The NUS #demo2012 was due to be another big one, whereby the students would be kettled again and, due to Bath Spa University and UCU's Chris Jury breaking his promise of providing the tea and coffee, there would once again be the feisty violence and unclear anger that were so prominent in both 2010 and 2011.  Rilla, a Gandhian in style, decided to prepare something of a special civil disobedience stunt just for the momentous occasion.  A plan was thus drawn together: we would get to Big Ben, which is where the main confrontations could be expected to happen due to the route going off away from Parliament Square to a far more secluded location from this spot.  At Big Ben, flyers would be distributed and, soon enough, people would be sitting and meditating in a prominent position, and refuse to move no matter what would happen.  This would be kind of like what that naked guy did in central London two days later (see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20466764), but without being naked and on top of a statue and rather using the power of meditation as our weapon.  What actually ended up happening, though, was absolutely remarkable.

After cracking a few in the line of police blocking the road to Parliament Square into smiles, G. Rilla found himself in a group of people chanting 'What do we want? BANANAS! When do we want them? NOW!'.  (see here for videos: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151097393836813 and http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151097407361813) The chant was rewarded well: after just a couple of minutes of chanting, which is much faster than the Soka Gakkais normally take, a banana was given as an offering to Rilla, and Rilla subsequently did many rituals before consuming half of it with the other half ending up on the floor.  A passer-by obviously saw this for he then produced another banana, more rituals were performed, and this banana was carefully consumed.  Bowing was then given before the banana skins, which were now both on the ground alongside the lost half-banana, before a stamping ceremony was performed, and then Rilla sat down in a kneeling meditation posture.  Some incense was lit and stuck into the banana skins, and the banner that was being carried on the day saying 'The Real Change is Here + Now' was placed on the ground in front of Rilla.  This is where the first question comes in.

Bath Love Police demo, December 2012

'The real change is here and now' is a slogan that could be related to Ram Dass's book 'Be Here Now', or to the Buddhist mindfulness concept of 'present-centredness', and many other possible ideas.  What's more relevant, though, are the philosophies behind such a demonstration.  This is where the second question comes in.

A true demonstration to do with 'being here and now' should transcend the craving for an explanation behind the purpose of such an act.  However, as this can only truly be experienced by physically being a part of the demonstration, some kind of an explanation can be given to those who, for whatever reason, cannot possibly be a part of it.  There could be many different reasons, some of which may be extremely personal, and so it is very difficult to pin down some set characteristics.  This shows about how important the personal, or the individual, is in this all, and it must be said that meditating is definitely one way of getting in touch with yourself.  Therefore, the first characteristic of this demonstration is to invoke/inspire people to keep in touch with their deeper selves, especially within a potentially scatty situation of a political demonstration.  What is the point of a revolution, after all, if you're still caught up in the same psychological troubles as ever before?

Secondly, this demonstration holds within it a call for a change in direction.  Rather than aiming towards the economic revolution that so many speak of in the media, we have got to see the plausibility in the transcendent qualities of a spiritual revolution.  You can have a spiritual revolution anywhere: in a jail, on a toilet, in your sleep...anywhere.  It can happen at any time, too.  There is no doubt that some of those who have been involved in this demonstration have had their own spiritual revolutions whilst being involved in these demonstrations.

The point is to be stepping out of the box that you associate with being 'how things are supposed to be', aka 'the comfort zone', and to rather allow everything to naturally unravel.  Allow yourself to become 'mad as hell' just to enjoy being 'mad as hell'.  Likewise, don't be put off by the situation around you.  People have found life-affirming 'spiritual truths' whilst in jail cells, which have completely transformed their lives (see this story on American serial killer 'Son Of Sam', for example https://www.cbn.com/700club/scottross/interviews/SonofSam.aspx).  No matter where you are, there you are, and I bet that 'you' are always wanting more freedom.  Give yourself that freedom.

Thirdly, demonstrations like this are beyond the media-constructed bullshit of scandals and more scandals.  To sit down in front of a banner saying 'the real change is here and now' is like giving the spiritual middle finger to the media, who will normally construct exactly what we will be protesting against next.  With the one completely empowering message of saying to the world that change isn't in the future and is neither in some obscure location somewhere, we are creating an entirely new scope not only to protest dynamics but also to voicing what we want and how we will attain it without their help. We are completely free.

After that long answer, it may be useful to come back again to the context that we were focusing on.  In front of Big Ben in Westminster, with perhaps over a thousand demonstrators gathered, G. Rilla had sat down meditating with incense burning in banana skins and the banner on the ground in front.  People had asked if Rilla was asleep ('no...he's meditating' came the answer from others who were gathered); people had said about giving him a banana but, for whatever reasons, decided not to disturb him; and, after a while, a policewoman started coming over as a liaison officer to try and negotiate a deal with us.  Alongside Rilla in this were about 10-15 students who became actively involved in talking to the police and the media as well as 50-100 other onlookers.  Here is where the next question came in.

The police liaison asked how long we were going to be staying around for.  Each respondent stated that they were staying with G. Rilla, that the demonstration was being performed as a group and that Rilla was not an individual on his own in it all, and that no-one could tell how long he would be meditating for.  One such reply was: 'Well, he's meditating on all of the problems that are in the world.  As there are so many things wrong at the moment, he might be meditating for quite a long time...'.  For some reason, the policewoman took this to mean that Rilla would finish meditating when the incense had burned down.  She even tried interrupting the meditation in saying directly to Rilla, 'So we have agreed that you will leave when the incense has finished burning, okay?'.  Fortunately, Rilla had not traveled too deeply into meditation and so was able to shake his head in order to give his firm answer, which was understood.  Rilla was not moving.

Meditation should not ever be given a time limit.  A lot of deeper meditation, after all, goes through timelessness.  What may have seemed to have been half an hour of meditation, for instance, could have actually been two hours, or even two days or two weeks.  In deeper states, also, the physical body can be put into a hibernation state, not unlike the hibernation states that colder-climate animals go into, but in meditation a form of consciousness will constantly be maintained through mindfulness.  So it must be acknowledged that these demonstrations may last two hours, as in London, an hour, as at Starbucks, or anything hugely longer or shorter.  Things should not be presumed, and that is a huge strength to the demonstrations.  One of the greatest weaknesses to political demonstrations is often their time limits.  This is where Occupy Bath almost stumbled: people had assumed, including some of those actually camped out at the time, that the occupation would only last for 10 days.  What actually panned out over the following 32 days of camp was somewhat magical.  Occupy Bath, and definitely the Bath People's Assembly, may not be still around if it wasn't for taking the camp to as far as it could be taken.

The final question, which is somewhat irrelevant now, is if G. Rilla wants a banana.  This is like asking a Hindu if they want arthi, or a Christian if they want communion.  The idea of 'wanting' any of these is a bit besides the point, really.

So, lastly, a little bit of advice will be given for those who will be involved in future 'here + now' demonstrations.  Firstly, with the real change being here and now, allow that change to take any form.  It needn't be about meditating, but I suspect that meditators will receive much less confrontation with authorities due to meditation being viewed as 'religious practice' and, ya know, the authorities are weird about anything considered to be 'religious'.

Secondly, for those aiming to meditate, bring something that can be sat on (a bag with clothing in often is sufficient) and plenty of warm clothing.  Find the best posture for you and sit comfortably with a straight back (it is especially important to straighten the lower back).  For those with arthritis or hip problems, sitting with hips highly elevated is especially important.  For me (I have a dodgy hip), sitting on my knees with a big mound to sit on, and something cushioning underneath my knees, seems to work best.  Once you are comfortable, calm the fuck down and give your mind something incredibly simple to focus on.  I like focusing on bodily sensations and to meditate on different parts of the body, changing my focus to another part of the body from time-to-time, and working on shifting the energies around my body.  Others often meditate on the breath, or on something religious.  Choose whatever suits you best.  The point is to just be with whatever comes up - be it thoughts, bodily sensations, or revolutions, and to stay in meditation until it is time to go.  Everyone has their own time to go out of meditation, so just stay in meditation for as long as is meant to be, and be persistent if need be.

You will probably see a lot more of us in the future.  Please, join in in making the change be NOW rather than some unknown time in the future.  These streets are ours and so are ourselves: we're taking back what they stole!

The Bath Love Police Facebook page is here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bath-Love-Police/385678834850567

Political Perspectives Series:

Part 1. What is Anarchism? (B.A.R.F.)

Part 2. What is the Zeitgeist Movement? (Bruce Galliver)

Part 3. Some thoughts on the Olympics opening ceremony (Katy Gent)

Part 4. Thoughts on Cambodia (Dave Stephens)

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Bath Anti-Cuts Demo, 5 Dec 2012

Anti-Cuts Demo, Bath, December 2012

Bath Anti-Cuts Alliance, with support from members of BARF and Occupy Bath, staged an anti-cuts demonstration on Milsom Street, in front of the Abbey, on the day of George Osborne's Autumn statement. 15 people turned up for the demo, and many members of the public stopped to chat and find out more information about what the cuts mean for them.

George Osborne's Autumn statement has just been released, and it is as bad as everyone expected. Whilst in the past, the ConDems have frozen wages, introduced 'Workfare' slave labour, tripled tuition fees, upped VAT and begun dismantling public services, this government's policy hits the poorest and most vulnerable in society hardest, leaving the rich and bankers virtually unscathed. Whilst attacking benefits, pensions and teachers' unions, Osborne has been forced to admit that austerity measures are failing to save the economy, and will continue until at least 2018. And the scandals of private companies being handed over control of health services will mean widespread hospital closures, and the complete destruction of the NHS.

While we suffer, the Sunday Times Rich List reported that the wealthiest 1,000 UK citizens have seen their fortunes increase by over £18 billion over the past year, to more than £414 billion, ovr a third of the national debt. Their combined wealth has risen to record levels in the past year, despite the recession, whilst we still suffer. Restoring corporate tax to pre-Thatcher levels (£27.5 billion), closing down the rich's tax loopholes (£95 billion) and collecting their unpaid taxes (£28 billion), as well as getting troops out of the Middle East (£4.5 billion) and scrapping Trident (£97 billion) - these steps would also heal the deficit...
But the budget has more to do with the old Tory policies of privatisation, public sector cuts and looking out for their rich mates, than it does about helping average people, indeed, the current cabinet includes 18 millionaires, and over half went to private school: no, were not all in this together.

And all this is taking place whilst banks and companies like Marks and Spencer, SABMiller (brewers of Grolsch), Starbucks, Cadburys, Boots/Top Shop and Vodafone are graciously allowed to opt out of the taxes they owe - with the latter two owing £300 million and £6 billion respectively.

Meanwhile, B&NES council are making their own plans to carry out the governments cuts, including cutting 400 or more council jobs over four years, as well as privatising or winding down its youth services, healthcare, adult support services and libraries, as well as thousands of MOD jobs to be lost from all three Bath sites. In fact, by adopting its proposed new buzzword of being an 'enabler rather than a 'provider of services, the council itself will cease to have any relevance, or power to do its job and serve its community, in any way.               

Just like with the fight against the poll tax at the beginning of the 1990s, a massive campaign has been started to defend our services and fight back against the cuts, up and down the country. We can win, but we need as many people as possible to fight back against these cuts and to defend their jobs and communities.

Standing out in the cold on a December night may not seem like the most comfortable way to spend an evening, but these cuts need to be fought at every opportunity. Bath Anti-Cuts Alliance, along with numerous other groups in the Bath area, including BARF, Occupy Bath, 38 Degrees, Socialist Worker Party and trade unions are doing what they can to fight them. Get involved with them - unless you are the 1%, these cuts affect you too. And if you are the 1% - where's your compassion for those less fortunate?

Links
Bath Anti-Cuts Alliance
UK Uncut
BARF
Occupy Bath Facebook Page

Note: Some text taken from Bath Anti-Cuts Alliance literature handed out during the demo

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Occupy Bath to Return this Weekend

One year on, Occupy Bath is coming back for one weekend. One year later, we are still facing the same problems - and some new ones. The banks are still out of control and are largely unregulated. Unemployment is still rampant. Tuition fees have increased. Huge corporations such as Vodafone and Starbucks are still not paying their taxes. The cost of living is going up, but wages are staying the same. The NHS is effectively being privatised.

The 99% are not being prioritised. Corporations and extremely wealthy individuals are still raking in the cash, at the expense of us little people. Our democracy is still a shambles, highlighted by the overwhelming public opposition AND a majority in the House of Commons to a badger cull that is still planned to go ahead next year.

One year on, Occupy Bath is still campaigning for financial equality and a fairer and more democratic society. Since packing up camp last year, Occupy Bath founded the Bath People's Assembly, which is still going today (and put on the Visions for Change event back in April), and has undertaken several actions, including a Move Your Money campaign and offering free hot food in the centre of Bath. Many occupiers have also become involved in other activist and campaign groups. Elsewhere, the Occupy Movement is still alive and well, most signficantly in America, where occupiers are distributing food and aid to those affected by Hurricane Sandy, and in London, where many meetings, discussions and actions have taken place over the last year.

While a weekend camp won't change the world, it will provide a platform for people to discuss the issues affecting us and to voice the views to people who will listen. Amongst these discussions, time will be devoted to looking at how Occupy Bath can move forward. There will also be an action on Saturday afternoon, to be decided upon on Friday night. Plus, since the end of the camps, the Occupy Movement has been largely out of the eye of the media. This camp, which will not outstay its welcome, hopes to bring these issues under the spotlight once more and look for solutions.

The schedule for the weekend:

Friday
6pm - Meet at Green Park Station. We will then move to the occupation site and set up camp. Please bring some food.
8pm - General Assembly - the main focus will be Saturday's action

Saturday
12-2pm - Talks and discussions
2-3pm - ACTION (To be confirmed - we have some ideas, but someone may have a better one)
3-4pm - Speaker's Corner - an idea that has been kicking around for some time - we thought we'd give it a go!
5-6pm - Community Meal - please bring a vegetable (or two!) for the pot, and a plate if you can. All welcome! Veggie/vegan friendly food!
8pm - General Assembly - the main focus will be where Occupy Bath can go from here
9pm - Jam session - bring an instrument if you have one, if not just bring yourselves and enjoy!

Things to bring:
Tent
Sleeping bag/blankets
Some food
Waterproofs (just in case)
Torch

 The press release regarding the camp:

"From Friday November 16th until Sunday November 18th, Occupy Bath will be re-occupying in the city. The Occupy Movement worldwide may have been out of the media lately, but the issues which brought it about are as urgent as ever. The current coalition government are slashing social and public services, left right and centre. From education to housing, from unemployment to healthcare, policies are being enacted which will have a profound and long-lasting impact on our city, our country, and our planet. Occupy Bath, as was the case when we occupied Queen’s Square last year, seek to create a platform for protesting these policies, and for having an open discussion about what direction our society should take.

We are re-occupying, a year since we last occupied, as we believe it is important that these issues remain front and centre in the public consciousness, and to remind the people of Bath that, whilst we may not be occupying constantly, we are still very active in the form of the Bath People’s Assembly"

Standing Stone's Blog will be reporting on the events of the weekend.

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