The reversal of the onus of proof in drug-possession cases is incompatible with the rule of law and is therefore unconstitutional in ALL jurisdictions. If you're a juror in a trial for possession of a prohibited drug, and if you are told that the "law" requires the defendant to prove that the possession was unwitting, it is your civic duty to put the onus of proof back where it belongs (on th…

The 2011 English riots are currently estimated to have cost the taxpayer £100 million. That works out at about £10,000 a minute.  Quite expensive, as riots go. Over twice as much as the 2009 English Defence League (EDL) riot in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire...

I've been blogging daily since the riots started. Just my personal thoughts based on what I've seen from the safety of my rural Yorkshire living room.

A local journalist is on hunger strike in protest against the UK Border Agency’s handling of his case for asylum. Manchester NUJ member James Fallah-Williams says he is taking the drastic action to expose the “abuse of power” by the government body, which he accuses of misleading his MP, shadow education minister Andy Burnham.

Chester Market is now host to a free shop called the 'Give and Take Stall'.

People can just take stuff they need, just give stuff they are done with, or swap.

Isn't it such a shame there are all these great mobile phone networks being used to generate profit for corporations? Ask the engineers who run them or the old heads who designed them, and they'll tell you they wanted to make open communication systems rather than cash-cows for the rish to get richer.

So how can we take it back and make it work for us? Difficult, but here's some practical instruc…

Apparently newspaper owners and editors up and down the country are scratching their heads and wondering why newspaper sales have plummeted. No doubt some comfort themselves, and each other, by blaming the internet. They would be partly right – but probably not for the reasons they might give. It’s difficult to know how many of them will learn the important lessons of the recent furore that …

19th July 2011 is the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish Revolution, which saw anarchists from across the world (including many from the North of England) uniting with communists and others to defend the Spanish republic against the fascist Nationalist army led by General Franco.

Although the civil war is understood to have started 2 days previously with the invasion of morocco by r…

anonymous report (photo: Grimsby Telegraph):

"On the early hours of Tuesday 5th July, activists frustrated by the lack of compassion by Geoffrey Douglas and his family decided to send a very clear message to them: It's time you got out of the vivisection industry!!!

The police and media continue to distort the facts regarding this animal concentration camp based at Highgate Farm, Highgate Lan…

Please take the time to read this carefully.



As you may be aware, on the 07/07/11 York based student Frank Fernie was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment having pleaded guilty to violent disorder.



The actual nature of Franks crime to quote The Press was 'Throwing 2 sticks' at police officers in body armour.



Frank should not be in prison.



Please carefully read the page in the link to find out how your…

John Holloway, author of "Crack Capitalism", delivered this lecture in Leeds on May 11th 2011. The book has been the subject of a discussion group at Treehouse Cafe in Bradford, and elsewhere.

There is a review of the lecture here.

Strikes in Britain: a selected timeline

1888 - The Matchgirls Strike: Successful strike against poor working conditions in a match factory, including 14-hour work days, poor pay, excessive fines, and the severe health complications of working with white phosphorus.

1901 - Taff Vale dispute: Strikers employ sabotage tactics to prevent scabs working, and the company sues the union for damages - an…

- Live interview with a member of New York troublemakers Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers!



- Audio from this year's Barncamp featuring a discussion on the origins of Ludditeism



- An interview with Patrick from the Campaign for the Old City Ars Building in Dublin about NAMA and reclaiming spaces lost to speculation and the economic crash



- Words from Athens about resistance to austerity in Greece



- BP…

GAUHATI, India (AP) — A protest against squatter evictions turned deadly in a northeastern Indian city on Wednesday as riot police fired tear gas and live rounds into the air to disperse thousands of stone-throwing protesters.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Police-protesters-clash-in-northeast-India-2-die-1435012.php#ixzz1Q7FRoG7T

A video from the Barncamp 2011 Raveoke.

This weekend we have helped bring a citizen TV journalism workshop to Liverpool. The idea is for everyone to tool up on the basics of creating quality video with the technology you already have - mobile phones for example, and getting your news online fast. You don't even need a camera or phone - you could just learn collate what's already online. The workshop is designed to be simple and fun.

A crowd whose size is difficult to even estimate gathered in central Athens to protest against the crisis and the Memorandum tonight. The call to a pan-european call of action saw more than 100,000 (some estimates give much higher numbers) flooding Syntagma square and many central nearby avenues. In contrast to previous gatherings, police presence was much higher, with fencing erected around …

Twitter has been forced to hand over the personal details of a British user in a libel battle that could have huge implications for free speech on the web.

The social network has passed the name, email address and telephone number of a south Tyneside councillor accused of libelling the local authority via a series of anonymous Twitter accounts. South Tyneside council took the legal fight to…

Lockheed Martin, one of the worlds largest arms companies and the company that was hired to handle the UK Census data by the government amidst large scale protests has suspended remote access to it's network due to a breach of it's security systems.

Unknown (or at least unidentified) hackers broke into the EMC divisions network and made off with unspecified information related to the security key…

Steven's blog on Libcom presents some interesting detail around the refusal of the UK's largest union to support the General Strike planned for 30th June 2011. As with some other unions, the members want to strike but their leaders say no.

Pfffft, leaders, who needs 'em?

An early day motion signed by 23 MPs calls for the criminalisation of squatting, except for the London mansion owned by Saif Gadaffi.

Quite how a criminal law could contain an exemption where sons of dictators are concerned is hard to know.

The Daily Mail tries to give the impression that squatters occupy lived-in homes, that a homeowner comes home one evening to find the house locked, a legal w…

Ahead of the John Holloway talk & booklaunch event tomorrow (Weds 18th May 2011) we at the Northern editorial dungeon have been poring over our copious notes of the Crack Capitalism lecture last week, in the hope of doing some kind of reporting justice to this noteworthy event.

Imagine our delight, then, in finding that someone much more capable has already written the event up, so now we don't …

You know cop cars have video cameras in? Well sometimes they're set up in a way that's quite easy to access through the internet without knowing any passwords, just using information you get through using network tools and search engines.

The same technology is used in buses, wireless remote surveillance cameras, police helicopters and surveilance drones.

Here's an example of how it's been done …

A Letter to/for Japanese Comrades

By Silvia Federici and George Caffentzis

In their letter of solidarity Silvia and George touch on the global significance and context of recent events in Japan, with particular reference to the role of nuclear power in militarised capitalism. In Japanese and English.

(Japanese text removed for technical reasons, but available by following the link)

Senior police officers focused too much on "kettling" during the march against government spending cuts last month, human rights campaigners have said.

A review by 120 legal observers from Liberty said the containment tactic was "under near constant consideration" when potential trouble spots emerged.

It said the tactic undermined trust between peaceful protesters and police.

But it also sa…

Director of Public Prosecutions Kier Starmer QC has told 20 people to appeal against convictions over a protest at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station.

His letter comes after revelations that the protesters had been infiltrated by an undercover police officer.

Mr Starmer said the CPS had reviewed the safety of the convictions in 2010 amid allegations about the officer, former Pc Mark Kennedy.

T…

Episode 80 of Dissident Island Radio brings you:

- Words from Temporary Autonomous Art about their upcoming weekend of exhibitions and events

- The notorious WAG, discussing the disillusion of their group and the formation of ALARM

- An update from the Ian Tomlinson inquest from Dean, who has been in attendance over the past few weeks

- The Counter Olympics Network discussing points objection …