LCpl Joe Glenton: The War is Local

On Saturday I took part in a stall and vigil protesting at the incarceration of York Soldier Lance Corporal Joe Glenton. It was an intense affair, with media interest normally not shown to a mere anti-war stall, hundreds signing petitions and some very heated exchanges. The struggle to end the Afghanistan War is no longer just about a place several thousand miles away, it has come home.

Cynicism is the death of humanity

I used to have this slogan on my wall as a fresher, displayed as if it were some kind of ward against a disease. I’m not convinced it did me any good, but I can certainly see the value in making the statement right now, as I seem to have been overcome with an immense amount of this destructive emotion. Almost everything my mind turns to becomes framed with accusations of shallowness, of being out of touch, of being motivated in selfishness; myself, those around me, initiatives that I’m variously involved with, and several that I’m not. It sucks!

Blog Action Day: The Environment

Its proving rather difficult to work out what to write about with regards to the environment today. I suppose I really ought to, seeing as I signed up for Blog Action Day months ago, and I voted for this very subject to be included. But the environment is a big thing, a powerful force in our lives, but to one extent a very fragile one. For decades, people have been calling on others to “do it for the planet”, but we still manage to make things worse to the extent that Climate Change now threatens humanities very existence.

Transcendence comes of age

Many of you will know that I spend some of my time working on a monthly service called Transcendence in York Minster, a blending of traditional high church worship with modern ambient music, mood lighting and interactive prayer activities. For all its newness, Transcendence is threatening to become routine, or it was until last Sunday.

Winning Kingsnorth, Winning the Struggle

The dust has now settled after the shock announcement that Kingsnorth is going nowhere for 3 years at least. Naturally I’m delighted, to the extent that I raided my alcohol supply for a swift one and bounced around the living room with my housemate. But politics is complicated and victories rarely more than partial. Also, sorry for lack of posts, life is just moving too quickly. Edit: And now we’re back in shock mode, as the Telegraph announces BAA’s decision to scrap the Third Runway at Heathrow. This post is probably only more timely because of it.

Don’t send this postcard!

This was the slogan on a post card being handed out at Greenbelt. Just in case you didn’t know, Greenbelt is the busiest festival by-attendance (2nd after Glasto overall) for postcard signing, that NGO term for getting people to write their name on a pre-written message to whoever they’re lobbying. Was this some kind of radical statement against the lobbying mentality? A call to arms for something more radical?

So, what exactly is Social Action?

Its not so much a crises, a moment of panic, indeed, anything dramatic at all. I’m just slightly dazed by the enormity of what I could choose to consider my “patch” in this new job. There’s an awful lot of it! As Social Action Parish Assistant, I could be said to cover campaigning, volunteering or indeed anything justice related, but none of these seems to fit. And there is only one of me, a lesson I may have to learn extra well this year.

Alcohol and Anti-Capitalism

Apologies for the whinge that is approaching. Its been Climate Camp, and I wasn’t there, due to the clash with GreenBelt, and now I’m back, I’ve been trying to catch up on some of the happenings. Sadly, one of the easiest to learn about, given my preferred news sources, is a confrontation between Whitechapel Anarchist Group and many other climate campers.

Climate Migration: A film idea

As I was out cycling recently, I began to wonder about the kinds of Climate Change films being made, and it occurred to me that one area there has been almost work on so far is climate change migration, the idea of people moving away from the equators in search of a liveable environment could make a pretty epic film. The main twist I’d like to see in it: I think it should be about a family from Britain struggling to migrate into overpopulated Norway.

My big fundraising cycle adventure

I wouldn’t normally use my blog for something like this, but I thought some of you might be interested to know why my postings are about to become less frequent. As I’m going to be working as a volunteer Social Action rep for St Mike’s and volunteer Administrator for Transcendence, I have to raise my own living somehow, and for the first few months, that’s going to have to be fundraising. So, tomorrow I set off on 240 miles of cycling to reach Soul Survivor.