G8 Alternatives
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- lowimpakt
Speakers include - Ken Wiwa, Mozzam Begg and Scott Ritter
If anyone is making it along to this (i hope someone here is) let me know if during or after Ken Wiwa speaks anything is mentioned of the five Irish people recently sent to jail because they don't want Shell building a pipeline across their land.
- JazX0
Ken Wiwa speaks anything is mentioned of the five Irish people recently sent to jail because they don't want Shell building a pipeline across their land.
lowimpakt
(Jul 3 05, 07:13)pipe bomb! pipe bomb!
- lowimpakt0
lol jaz.
now that's just irresponsible ;)
- PonyBoy0
Enter response:
lowimpakt...
... what did those five people do? I have a hard time believing that people go to jail because they didn't want something to happen.
Did they perchance... break the law? What's the scoop?
- lowimpakt0
they were jailed on the behest of shell because they were blocking the development of a pipeline across their farmland.
you can can say its breaking the law and they can say it is protecting their livelihood and shell can say it is doing whatever it likes.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0630…
even our toiseach (prime minister) has said it was regrettable
http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/…
and I presume you know the relevance of Ken Wiwa????
- PonyBoy0
Enter response:
not at all.
I'm rather ignorant on this whole subject to be honest... but was interested in knowing what the people did wrong to be tossed in jail.
I have no problem with a protest... and you may be dead-right about whatever it is you're protesting...
... but if you fuck with the law... you deserve whatever the 'authorities' decide to do.
If these authorities and rules weren't in place... this world would be a far shittier place... so why bother protesting in an illegal manner? That makes them look stupid to anyone they're trying to reach with their protest... and of course they run the risk of getting themselves put behind bars.
- lowimpakt0
to cut a long story short.
Ken-Saro Wiwa (Ken Wiwas brother) was executed by the Nigerian authorities for protesting non-violently against Shell and BP destroying the farmland of the Ogoni people. Shell were in a corrupt relationship with the military authority and knew well in advance that Wiwa was to be executed. Even though they had the power to prevent his execution they did nothing. They were more concerned about their profits that the livihoods of millions and the life of Ken-Saro-Wiwa. This was a time before vacuous CSR reports and all that.
- lowimpakt0
.................and the technical data and proximity of this pipeline to houses don't even comply with US standards (which many see as lax as it gets) - We don't even have pipeline standards in ireland as far as i know.
The US Office of Pipeline Safety has recorded 1,586 incidents including 61 fatalities, 235 injuries and over $408 million of damage from 1986 to 2004. If this pipeline fails, in its current route, people will die.
with that in mind i'd do anything I could to prevent Shell from building the pipeline on my land.
- PonyBoy0
Enter response:
horrible stuff, lowimpakt. Makes me embaressed to say I'm human. That's horrible what happened in Nigeria.
I don't know what to say.
On a sort of positive note... his death isn't being forgotten... people are being informed.
As far as preventing Shell - your fight's with your government - just as it was in Nigeria. You have a shitty government (as did those in nigeria) who obviously don't have their countryman in their best interested.
No one's taking down Shell, Mobile or any of these large corps... ain't gonna happen. But you can definetly fight to keep them out - but your battle has to be with your gov.. not shell.
- Dancer0
You are right Ponyboy. Shell cannot be to blame at all, it's the poor arican nations they take advantage of that are to blame.