Climate Camp 2007: Another End of the World is Possible. By Damian Abbott.
Now that environmentalists and government ostensibly have the same interests at heart one might expect some collusion, but as Damian Abbott reports, at this years Climate Camp at Heathrow, protesters, media and the British police seemed to work to co-produce an event characterised by extraordinary restraint. Whilst the Met used cutting edge technology, psychological intimidation and an innovative legal apparatus to make the protesters' lives as difficult as possible, the campers seemed to be doing a pretty good job of this on their own. Tuesday 14th August: outside Staines BR station and its raining. Pissing down, and despite being medically ill-disposed to tents, mud, and more fucking rain, I'm asking someone holding a leaflet that states 'You are not fucked' for directions to the camp site. He sends me, and a couple of others, over to a white hire van. The driver looks frazzled, he has apparently been on the go since seven in the morning, and drives us at a sedate pace along the dual carriageways that feed traffic towards the north of Heathrow airport. He's been stopped and searched several times, and responded, 'I don't know' to numerous questions, except for the necessary name and address. Understandably, he's feeling a bit singled out, but I don't think the mobile speed camera on the central reservation is for our benefit. There's no sign of the ANPR unit (automatic number plate recognition) he claims is also in the area, but there is an unmarked Saab pursuit car parked nearby. The driver is in blue combats and no fluorescent vest, so not your average traffic grunt, but the only people getting pulled over fit the usual profile: young black men, young white men, young men. Business as usual. more... http://www.metamute.org/en/Climate-Camp-2007 _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
