choose life

I was just talking to a friend who is researching relationships between donors and government in Aceh, Indonesia, about jobs, and how to get them.

She came across this piece of advice from George Monbiot to choose life instead of other things.

how to...link to doc

See How to use the blog

Protest disrupts slavery service

Saw this on the BBC news website. Just thought I'd share it with you as an example of non-violent direct action.

Toyin Agbetu interrupted a commemorative service at Westminster Abbey marking the 200th anniversary of the act to abolish the slave trade.

The event, attended by the Queen and Tony Blair, was almost over when human rights campaigner Toyin Agbetu began shouting: "This is an insult to us."

He condemned African Christians for taking part and told them to walk out.

The service resumed minutes later after security guards led him outside. He was arrested and is being held in custody.

Toyin Agbetu is a campaigner for Ligali, an African-British human rights organisation.

He managed to get a lot of publicity by taking this action and has raised questions about slavery and its impact on us today. What we don't know is the preparation he took part in, his support network (if any) and whether he considered the likely impacts he might have.

More nukes like fish need more ...

Been busy, but wanted to add this to Carl's entry post-Trident protest (14 March).

eostre events on

For full listings of activities in April from the day of the fool see the Network for Peace site.

Me and Z are off to Aldermaston, with some, but not all of the Slackers* on Easter Monday/Tuesday 10th. See Block the Builders and Trident Ploughshares for more info.

* Slackers are a non-violent choir. We might sing or we might not.

every journey begins...

Dear reader, I am currently trying to write a step-by-step process for posting comments on this blog, that will, hopefully, be difficult to misunderstand. I writing this post to test whether the steps I'm drafting are easy to follow. I'll then ask you to try them out. If they are not clear to you, then I'll re-write them.

Helen Dymond

I hope I am connnected after various attempts... ...More and more does power reside with the computer-savvy. I wanted to say, I went to a presentation recently by one of the Peace Tax Seven (affiliated to 'Conscience') who are challenging the automatic allocation of part of our taxes to the arms industry, and want these monies ring-fenced for a Peace Fund to pay for "life-affirming activities such as health care, education and non-violent conflict resolution." They are taking their case back to the European Court of Human Rights under Article 9 of the European Convention. I have a DVD of their recent doings but they can be accessed on www.peacetaxseven.com
all good wishesHelen Dymond

Trident and untested

Up on Parliament Square yesterday to join the protest against the renewal of Trident.

Lots of good speeches; but I was particularly interested in the one from a woman from Block the Builders (anti-Aldermaston developments), who was involved in direct action at the camp. She said nine of them had earlier blocked the road and were now being held under SOCA - serious and organised crime legislation.

Then the fish on bikes turned up and there was a bit of argy-bargy with the Police. Made me think - why are a whole load more of us not organised to take part in mass blockades?

For further thought perhaps - getting people to break the law is fraught with all sorts of complications. In the meantime, it was good to see a healthy mid-week turn out - the struggle continues...

What is the Peace Process in Nepal Leading To?

A Discussion on the Challenges of Mainstreaming Maoists, Federalism and Madhesh Movement, presented by London Chhalphal & SOAS Nepali Society with Mr. Kunda Dixit Chief Editor and Publisher, Nepali Times.

17th March 2007, Saturday, 2:30 - 4pm

Venue: Room B104, Brunei Building, Russell Square Campus
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
London, WC1H 0XG Nearest Tube Stations: Russell Square, Euston Square, Euston

Mr. Kunda Dixit is currently the chief editor and publisher of Nepali Times and the co-publisher of Himal Southasian magazine. He is a graduate of Columbia University, USA. He worked as news reporter for the BBC at UN Headquarters in New York from 1985-86, and then as Asia-Pacific director of Inter Press Service from 1987 to 1995. He returned to Nepal in 1996 to head Panos Institute South Asia. He is also author of the book, Dateline Earth: Journalism As If The Planet Mattered.

London Chhalphal is a Nepal-facing discussion and networking forum. The forum provides an opportunity for anyone interested in Nepal to share, learn and debate wide ranging issues from politics, development, people and society. London Chhalphal is an independent platform that neither endorses nor is affiliated with any political ideology or organisation. The views of the speakers are their own.

Additional Non-violence Readings

Center for Teaching Peace -- course readings, and an invitation for further study


I was flipping through notebooks, bookmarks and my mind this morning thinking about today's homework and I re-encountered this page. I have found it to be a great resource for my own 'peace journey' as well as having drawn from the articles for workshops I've facilitated.

It is such a good resource, I sort of felt like I ran into an old friend.

I've never sysmatically worked down through the readings though, and I wonder would anyone out there be interested in complementing our TTT training by reading a lesson each each month, and sticking around for an hour afterward to discuss them? Or perhaps a different set-up, another night, another channel?

Fish on Bicycles mass cycle against Trident

Open your eyes, and move those legs! Alternatively start your engines for a mass one-set-of-eyes car-car! ;-)

14 March 2007, LONDON. "Fish on Bicycles mass cycle ride"
Meet at 6.30pm under Waterloo Bridge for a mass cycle ride around central London. Inspired by Steve Bell's cartoon depicting Tony Blair calling for a replacement to Trident, next to a fish demanding a new bicycle, the cycle ride will demonstrate just how pointless and ridiculous the government's plans to build a new generation of nuclear weapons really are. Bring anti-Trident messages, and dress as a fish or other non-cycling amphibian to highlight the pure stupidity of replacing Trident. (Dressing as a fish is optional!) Download a specially-made "fish on bicycles" race cards displaying Steve Bell's cartoon (to be attached to the front of bicycles) from <http://www.tridentvoteday.org.uk/>
Please note that arrests, although unlikely, are a possibility. For more information the events and actions taking place on Trident Vote Day, please visit:
<http://www.tridentvoteday.org.uk/

Iran film

Check this out www.lucasgray.com/video/peacetrain.html

NVDA meme spreads

In today's Guardian G2, there's an article on the spread of NVDA. A piece on how organisations like Seeds of Change are offering workshops to activists on direct action - bit like TTT I think.

Made me think about how we spread the method beyond the usual suspects. The more we spread these ideas to different interest groups and communities the more powerful the tool becomes. While TTT is clearly linked into many campaigning organisations, we need to think through how we get to those that are either unaligned or those that are in organisations but have no idea about NVDA. Given that two of the highest profile NVDA campaigns in the 20th century were for national liberation (India) and civil rights (USA), and were not for or about white people, we should perhaps also think through why these methods have little current resonance with people from black or minority ethnic communities?

can theatre change the course of history?

We missed this at the Almeida Gallery:

We asked the Almeida's artist collaborators and the students whether theatre can change the course of history. Their response came about as part of a theatre laboratory - a practical and artistic investigation of the strength and importance of ideas and the power of the collective to effect change.



But they have kindly given us instructions on how to devise revolutionary theatre

the many doors to our activism

Turning the Tide held its Resource Person gathering at Bilberry Hill Centre near Birmingham over the weekend. The programme, ably put together by Bob, Denise and Sophie, focussed (I think) on 'the roots of our activism'. The weekend was, for me, strangely unexpectedly intense, cohering and exhausting. The venue provided more doors than seems possible for a youth centre, and a splendid place to view the moon as it went orange and threatened to drop out of the sky.


through the hatch

We were a mix of older RPs (both in terms of length of involvement in TTT and in years age, it seemed) and several of us newbies (though interestingly we newbies facilitated several of the sessions). And we delved inside ourselves... at least that's how it seemed to me. Carl's session using an exercise from neuro-lingustic programming (NLP) took us up and down a 'ladder' of our activism: our environments, behaviours, capabilities, beliefs/values, identities and spirituality/vision, both in the present and how we would like to see them in the future. It shook and scared me, strangely: connecting parts of me, internal and external, trying to figure out how I and my activism fit together, and how I would like them to. I think it was also incredibly productive.. but I'm still digesting.


many doors lead to many chairs

We had two sessions that made little waves, like nails catching on nylon: 'spirituality and our activism', run by Helen D, and 'class and activism', by Amanda. Both stirred (some of us) up, me included, and I'm still not sure why: partly making me (or us? I don't think I can speak for anyone else though) confront things I feel uncomfortable about, define my acts and thoughts in terms that I don't feel right using. And of course these led to good discussions, and overhanging thoughts that seeped into lunch and dinner.


Sophie and Rachel have a Sunday


Chris and Amanda get classy

And what lunch and dinner they were! Jenny and Rachel seemed to create big pots of goodness out of nowhere and in no time. We ate around a big table, something between a school canteen and Busaba Eathai communal tables, with food passed through the hatch from the cavernous kitchen.


deep debate by the fridges - Chris, Allison, Helen and Carl


Ally and Denise through the hatch

And there was energiser fun... never has a gym been as fun as went 10 of us ran around doing car-car, one eye-closed, the other driving them, making suitable noises on top of giggles. It led on to more discussion about why this stuff works, carnivals and fools, SOMA from Brazil (see Carl's comment below, and Rachel, please tell us more!). And of course the songs, led by Rachel, drawn from SLACKERS: South London Activist Singers. Encore.

Sophie gave us an overview of who's who in the TTT world, and talked through what TTT is doing at the moment, and where she and Steve would appreciate some help. If any of the words below make sense and call to you, call to her.


What TTT does

And in the middle of all this, the clouds cleared, the sun went behind the earth and the moon went orange.