tagged w/ Land Grab
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trut
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added this
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9 months ago
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REO continue to shoot themselves in the – what by now must be, given their perilously brittle financial circumstances, bare – feet. Their persistent corporate prostitution of the inner sanctuary of the Battersea Power Station (for yous philistines who don’t know is now renamed THE BOILER ROOM) rips away any last layer of credibility from the assertion that the iconic chimneys of Battersea Power Station should be demolished for safety reasons.
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/spectacleblog/battersea-power-station/chimneys-standing-firm/
This declaration is a major part of REO’s planning application, stating that the chimneys are monstrously dangerous actually, given that they could fall down imminently. This is the reason, according to Planning Director of REO and Treasury Holdings Jeremy Castle, that there is a strict thirty metre exclusion zone around each of the chimneys at each event. Quite how they maintain this INSIDE the structure of the power station is a mystery.
What undermines these claims is that there have been a slew of conferences, dinners and even large scale events in and around the power station throughout the year; from the recent Red Bull X-Fighter Motorcross event to the upcoming SHINE benefit dinner in November (where a canopy and walkway to access The Boiler Room will be constructed for guests). These events, inclusive of the Paul McCartney gig inside the station back in July, would not be permitted to take place if there was any truth to these safety concerns, so this fallacy of collapsing chimneys is but a clever marketing shoehorn to strengthen the application process. Which ironically of course, will be slowed down to increase the value of the land if the application is accepted.
This flagrant contradiction only adds to the controversy surrounding REO, given that they are over a billion in debt, unable to pay interest to creditors, heavily criticised by heritage institutions such as the Victorian Society, Kew Bridge Engine Trust and the Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society, and planning an unwanted underground line extension. The current plans for the station, which you can read more about on our Spectacle Battersea Blog, also include planning requests for an office and leisure complex, riverside access, a hotel, and 3,700 luxury flats.
To send in a written objection to the plans to demolish the station and its neighbouring Grade II* listed sister pumping house, address it to Bob Leuty at Wandsworth Council, planning applications@wandsworth.gov.uk . The deadline for written objections is 5pm tomorrow (30th September), and you can also contact your Wandsworth Councillor and ask them what their view is on this before deciding how to vote.REO continue to shoot themselves in the – what by now must be, given their... more
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"20+ African countries are selling or leasing land for intensive agriculture on a shocking scale in what may be the greatest change of ownership since the colonial era."
Excerpt:
"Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world with more than 13-million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the government is offering at least 7.5 million acres of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world's most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations."
One more:
"The foreign companies are arriving in large numbers, depriving people of land they have used for centuries. There is no consultation with the indigenous population. The deals are done secretly. The only thing the local people see is people coming with lots of tractors to invade their lands.
"All the land round my family village of Illia has been taken over and is being cleared. People now have to work for an Indian company. Their land has been compulsorily taken and they have been given no compensation. People cannot believe what is happening. Thousands of people will be affected and people will go hungry."
http://www.alternet.org/world/145970/billionaires_and_mega-corporations_behind_immense_land_grab_in_africa
Modern slavery by the almighty corporations.
Join the Organic Movement:
http://current.com/groups/organicgreen/"20+ African countries are selling or leasing land for intensive agriculture on a... more
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http://www.russellmeansfreedom.com/2009/the-united-states-continues-to-steal-land-from-indians/
During the course of this long-running, class-action litigation, it has been documented that the United States owes Indian people more than $137 billion for mismanagement of trust accounts. That was established just by the documents that were presented.
The original federal judge on this case was Royce Lamberth, who held at least three secretaries of the Interior in contempt for not producing thousands of additional documents. Also, during the course of this case, hundreds of relevant documents were found in the trash by Interior Department employees, who reported this to the court and to Interior Department officials.
So basically, now, the U.S. government is saying that it has identified the thief of Indian royalties and resources as itself. It has allowed the thief to determine the value of the settlement and mostly has allowed the thief to keep what has been stolen.
Only in America if you steal something and hold onto it long enough does it becomes yours.http://www.russellmeansfreedom.com/2009/the-united-states-continues-to-steal-land-from-... more
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ACORN is being tied more closely to Bruce Ratner and the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, New York which is being subsidized with $1.6 billion of taxpayers money. The public-financed redevelopment plan relies extensively on eminent domain. This would leave many long-time business owners and residents being ejected.
Occupants of Atlantic Yards protests have been going on since they learned that the buildings in the area would be torn down.
Watch the protests on video.ACORN is being tied more closely to Bruce Ratner and the Atlantic Yards development in... more
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The Drill of It All
This is from the Sierra Club's latest newsletter!
Did you know that oil companies are already sitting on 68 million acres of leases that they aren't even drilling? Which kind of makes you wonder: Why are Big Oil and its allies suddenly desperate to get their hands on the last few places that are still protected -- our natural treasures, wildlife refuges, and pristine coastlines? They wouldn't use the concerns caused by high gas prices as an excuse to grab it ALL, would they?The Drill of It All
This is from the Sierra Club's latest newsletter!
Did... more
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The world's forests will be gobbled up by an escalating demand for fuel and food unless steps are taken to hand the people who live in them greater rights, two reports published here Monday said.
The US-based Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), an international coalition of forest governance and conservation groups, warned that widespread deforestation would make climate change more severe.
It would also push the billion or so people dependent on forests further into poverty and trigger conflicts, the coalition's reports said.
The international community must work to empower poor forest-dwellers if the loss of forest and its consequences are to be avoided, the RRI concluded.
The world will need a minimum of 515 million more hectares (1.27 billion acres) by 2030, in order to grow food, bio-energy and wood products, said the reports.
This is almost twice the amount of available land and equal to an area 12 times the size of Germany, the RRI said.
"Arguably we are on the verge of a last great global land grab," said RRI co-ordinator Andy White.
"Unless steps are taken, traditional forest owners, and the forests themselves, will be the big losers.
"It will mean more deforestation, more conflict, more carbon emissions, more climate change and less prosperity for everyone."
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More at linkThe world's forests will be gobbled up by an escalating demand for fuel and food... more
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