Woken UK Police Pledge To Only Use Environmentally Sound Tear Gas On Climate Protestors

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised to clamp down on disruptive climate awareness protests by organisations like Just Stop Oil, but in a bid to not appear totally heartless has assured activists that they will be stomped by police in the most sustainable way possible.

from waterfordwhispersnews.com via thefreeonline

“We’re investing millions in equipping our riot police with boots made from vegan leather, and truncheons made from ethically-sourced wood and metal,” Sunak pledged today, as guerilla-style JSO demonstrations continued to halt traffic and travel across the country as climate change halted humanity’s chances altogether.

“We’ll no longer used pepper spray that contains ingredients that were flown in from abroad, instead we’ll decrease our carbon footprint by sourcing mace and tear-gas locally. And once you clear our streets and allow daily life to continue, we promise to barely assault you at all. Fair is fair”.

Other measures to curb those pesky protests about how we’re careening towards disaster include:

– Banning anyone under 25 from protests (too young and whiny) and anyone over 60 (too old, should know better) will narrow the amount of available protestors to a few dozen middle-aged hippies.

– Automatic sirens will cry ‘hypocrites!’ at anyone involved in a climate protest if they’ve ever sat in an automobile or worn clothes.

– The police K9 unit will only feed their dogs vegetarian food from now on.

– Protestors will be assured that the world’s governments are about to do something really, really great on climate, if they’d all just go on home and relax.

Russia finally sealing off Bakhmut in Donetsk as Ukraine orders garrison to Resist to the End

As the assault on Artemovsk (Bakhmut) continues, rather than attempting to steamroll Ukrainian defenses in the town, Russian forces are now encircling the area, effectively cutting the it off from resupply and reinforcements from the rest of the Ukraine. This article will look at why Russia is choosing to do this and the potential consequences of following a plan such as this.

Monday, 12 Dec2022 — The van says… The New Dark Age via thefreeonline

Vulnerable Fled As Russians Encircled Ukraine Town

The Heat of the Artemovsk Cauldron

In Hot Water

The situation in Artemovsk was covered in this article, and since this was published, the plight of Ukrainian assets in the town has continued to get worse. Just as Hitler did during the Second World War, Zelenskiy ordered that there be no Ukrainian retreat from the town, this meaning that there is no solution to a hopeless situation for the Ukrainian military.

The town of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) is now effectively surrounded, yet the fact that the Russians have minimized fighting in residential areas is for good reason.

The town is not yet physically surrounded by Russian assets, yet with drones and portable missiles having the reach that they do, Moscow’s men control all access to Artemovsk, day and night and across country as well as on the roads.

Putting on the Lid

As the situation in Artemovsk gets worse by the days, Ukrainian officers ensured that by blowing a bridge, their soldiers cannot retreat.

Despite the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have no options regarding leaving the town, they have gone to the trouble of blowing up a bridge linking themselves with the outside world. Another bridge in the center of the town was destroyed using demolition charges during the fall, yet the recent destruction of one of the few existing routes that potentially led out of the area could mean that the Ukrainians are preparing for a siege.

Rolled Metal

Grim photos show destruction in Bakhmut, Ukraine

A tactic frequently used by Ukrainian forces over previous months as they attempt to push back against the Russians has been to advance infantry in small groups accompanied by tanks, yet in doing so, they have come under punishing fire from both the Wagner PMC as well as Russian tanks, missiles and artillery.

With the Russians holding the lead regarding technology, night vision equipment and reconnaissance drones, the older Ukrainian tanks and unprotected soldiers stand out like sore thumbs during night operations.

At this time of year, both darkness and the cold rule; in order to stay warm, tank crews leave their engines on at all times, this making the detection and subsequent destruction of both armor and ground troops by Russian forces all the easier.

Heavy Metal

With human casualties being as high as they are, it is only to be expected that material losses be proportionally great, and whilst the final tally will not be known until the town comes under complete Russian control, through deduction as well as certain posts on social media, some figures are now becoming apparent.

Ukranian villagers sit in an overgrown playground in the outskirts of Bakhmut, Eastern Ukraine.AFP

Merkel admits U.S. and NATO Prepared War in Ukraine from 2014, Peace Process a Charade, USA found Guilty

It is becoming irrefutably clear that the United States and its NATO partners have been planning for many years for the current war in the Ukraine against Russia. That fact makes the prospects for peace all the more elusive. How to negotiate with a mindset that is so deeply invested and ingrained with belligerence?

Scott Ritter / Merkel bombshell /Minsk Deception / France and Germany owe ‘Genocide Compensation’ …. via thefreeonline

As Merkel’s comments reveal, the war mentality in the West against Russia has been extant for over a decade if not longer.

Western governments and media accuse Russia of “unprovoked aggression” against Ukraine and are clamoring for Moscow to hand over eye-watering financial compensation as well as face war crimes prosecutions.

The bitter irony is that the war in Ukraine, which is dangerously escalating and could spiral into a nuclear cataclysm, was sown by the United States and its accomplices. It is the West that bears ultimate responsibility for this abysmal situation, not Russia.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2005-2021) is the latest Western source to come clean or let their guard down. She disclosed in a recent interview with Der Spiegel the real roots of the war.

Putin responds to Merkel bombshell. The President believes that the former German leader’s remarks justified Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine. “I thought the other participants of this agreement were at least honest, but no, it turns out they were also lying to us and only wanted to pump Ukraine with weapons and get it prepared for a military conflict,” Putin said.

Merkel’s reprehensible revelation is inadvertent. She refers to appeasing the Ukrainian regime as a way to eventually build up its fighting strength against Russia. She invokes this reasoning as a way to justify why she objected to Ukraine’s earlier membership of the NATO alliance in 2008. The fact of membership wasn’t wrong, it was just a matter of wrong timing, according to Merkel.

As respected independent military analyst Scott Ritter points out, Merkel also knew that the Kiev regime installed by the CIA-backed coup d’état in 2014 was not interested in a peaceful resolution of the civil war in that country.

The unspoken policy in Berlin was all about buying time for the anticipated aggression against Russia. This was in spite of the fact that Germany along with France was supposed to be a guarantor of the Minsk peace agreements negotiated in 2014 and 2015.

In other words, Ukraine was primed for war against Russia from 2014 onwards.

Merkel’s admission is therefore really a confession of Western duplicity towards Russia, as Ritter astutely notes.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military intervention into Ukraine on February 24 this year, the order was one of force majeure because the offensive threat from the NATO-backed Kiev regime had crossed Russia’s red lines. Those red lines had been repeatedly conveyed to the West by Moscow to no avail.

Merkel has admitted 8 year deception over Minsk peace deals – The Minsk agreements, brokered by Germany and France, were supposed to be a roadmap for peace in the war-torn country, giving the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state, whose rule they rejected after the 2014 Maidan coup.

Thus, the Western media claims about “Russian aggression” are propaganda laundering about the real causes of and responsibilities for the war.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and other NATO commanders have also admitted on several occasions that the coup in Kiev was followed by massive weaponizing of the regime by the United States and other Western powers.

In Contempt #23: Antifascists Given Long Sentences for Self-Defense; Mutulu Shakur Granted Parole… MUCH more

In Contempt at It’s Going Down Dec 2, 22 via thefreeonline

In this column, we present our monthly roundup of political prisoner, prison rebel, and repression news, happenings, announcements, action and analysis. Packed in as always is updates, calls to action, fundraisers, and birthdays.

There’s a lot happening, so let’s dive right in!

Political Prisoner News

Mutulu Shakur has been granted parole and is need of release funds. You can donate via paypal, cash app or via a tax deductible donation by check. All the info is at https://t.co/nEPmMSBkFf
Please support this elder! pic.twitter.com/wfh3pI2bA1
— Certain Days (@CertainDays) November 23, 2022

Perhaps the biggest piece of political prisoner news is that Mutulu Shakur has finally been granted parole after more than 36 years. Natasha Lennard has written a report and analysis of the situation, which is available in a more accessible form on the ABCF site.

The support crew for anarchist prisoner Eric King have published an update on his situation, featuring new writing and poetry from Eric, who remains amazingly defiant while in the depths of the supermax.

Earth liberation defendant Joseph Dibee has been sentenced to time served, meaning that he’s due for release, a rejection of the prosecution’s attempt to get a longer sentence.

A rally in support of Chicano anarchist political prisoner Xinachtli was held on November 21st in Austin, Texas.

Indigenous anarchist political prisoner Oso Blanco has designed some new greeting cards to raise money for children on reservations and in Zapatista territory.

Give Through The Bars 2022! Support #PoliticalPrisoners with tax deductible donations.https://t.co/8BUjyPdHFF #GivingTuesday pic.twitter.com/25Ya2axoK6
— Philly ABC (@phillyabc) November 28, 2022

The Anarchist Black Cross Federation has launched an appeal to “Give Through The Bars” to raise money for their ongoing work with political prisoners, and James River ABC will be holding a holiday letter-writing party on December 20th in Richmond, Virginia.

Anarchist and antifascist prisoner Dan Baker continues to publish new writings regularly through Mongoose Distro, such as “Confessions and Self Criticisms,” “Selfless Anarchism in Action,” and “Herstory.”

Uprising Defendants and Other Ongoing Cases

Recent weeks have unfortunately seen the sentencing of a number of antifascist defendants. In Olympia, Benjamin Varela was sentenced for his part in defending Olympia from a rampage by the Proud Boys, led by Tusitala “Tiny” Toese.

His address is:

Benjamin Varela #434577
Washington Corrections Center
P.O. Box 900
Shelton, WA 98584

In California, Nikki Hubbard has been sentenced to four years for taking action to oppose a violent “Patriot March” in Pacific Beach that involved several of the January 6th rioters. Nikki, a trans woman, is currently being held in a men’s prison, and her supporters have set up a linktree, where you can find her support facebook, tiktok, and instagram pages, as well as a cashapp. A petition to get her moved to a women’s prison will also be set up in the near future.

Antifascist Receives 20 Year Sentence in Albany, New York#AntiFascism #FreeAlexStokes https://t.co/woikx3jTOh pic.twitter.com/0t34TEowpP
— Abolition Media (@abol_media) November 30, 2022

Over on the East Coast, Alexander Stokes Contompasis has been sentenced to 20 years for his part in a confrontation with a group of Proud Boys on January 6th, 2021. Supporters have set up a site, Free Alex Stokes, and are selling prints of his art to help with his costs. Donations can also be sent directly to Cashapp – $freealexstokes or Venmo – @free_alex_stokes.

In more positive news, November also saw a string of victories involving water protector defendants, as five of the “Shell River Seven” had their charges dropped, along with other cases connected to the Treaty People Gathering, while former NoDAPL political prisoner Rattler was granted early release.

Pink Floyd legend urges ‘British poodle’ to free Assange

@MaxBlumenthal 10 Dec, 2022 23:27 ** International via thefreeonline

Rock star and activist Roger Waters accused the government of ignoring the law and taking orders from the US

British rock legend Roger Waters slammed the authorities in London, accusing them of doing the bidding of their “masters in Washington,” at a rally in New York on Saturday, calling for the release of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange.

“Julian, you are not alone! … We are many, and we have a message for Vanessa Baraitser, that apology for a magistrate that set you down in that kangaroo court in London,” Waters said, referring to a judge who signed the extradition order. *“Ms. Baraitser, you are a disgrace to the legal profession. F**k you.”*

UK district judge Vanessa Baraitser initially refused to surrender Assange to the US, citing fears that he would be subjected to inhumane treatment, but Washington managed to convince London that the journalist’s rights would be “respected.” In the US, Assange faces espionage charges that carry a prison sentence of up to 175 years.

Addressing a crowd outside of the British Consulate on Saturday, the rock musician, who has long been a vocal supporter of Assange, recalled how in 2020, he “wasted a few words on Boris Johnson, who was then the United States’ tamed poodle” and who “ignored the law and did the bidding of his masters in Washington.”

Today, the current pitiful British poodle, Rishi Sunak, is equally well-trained… ‘Rishi, sit! Good boy!’

“What about the law, Mr. Sunak? What about magna carta? What about basic human rights?” Waters asked.

WikiLeaks supporters insist that Assange was simply practicing journalism by publishing the documents, which were redacted to remove sensitive information. Activists claim Washington retaliated against the outlet and its co-founder for exposing its own war crimes.

“Without Julian Assange we might as well be alone. Without a free press we might as well be alone,” Waters said. “Without basic human rights for all our brothers and sisters irrespective of their color, religion or nationality, we might as well all be alone.”

Julian Assange entered the crosshairs of the US government in 2010 when WikiLeaks published classified documents revealing alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was forced to take refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London from 2012 to 2019, when a new government in Quito revoked his asylum status and he was arrested for skipping bail.