Published Date 9/18/14 8:39 PM

The last Newsreal produced by http://www.undercurrents.org

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George Monbiot

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New Internationalist

Undercurrents News Network

A compilation of cutting edge animations, documentaries, comedy, subverts and music videos from the best radical producers from around the globe.
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Wild Horses of Newbury
An inspiring tale of how two horses put their bodies in front of the chainsaws during the disastrous roadbuilding scheme.
Produced by Mark Carroll and Undercurrents.

When the Smoke Clearz
From the Guerrilla News Network crew in USA – a music video highlighting the dark forces behind hip hop. 3 mins

The Meatrix
Welcome to the real world of intensive animal farming.
A spoof on the Matrix blockbuster series, it’s fast becoming a cult across the web.By Flash animators free range graphics.
3.5 mins

Hercubush
A BangZoomTV spoof remix of the 60s Hercules series 4mins
The lengths one man will go to for a well-oiled torso!

Whose News?
Fed up of news spin? Undercurrents presents the funny unspun truth behind the peacemovement, women’s empowerment, protest shopping and bald policemen.
Includes an interview with Oscar-winning actor Martin Sheen about anti-war activism.15 mins

Consumption
“Keep on buying so much I don’t need…”
A rapid-paced music explosion from underground music maestro Toby Slater.3 mins

Occupation
EnMasse Films present a stunning ‘reality’ documentary about how Harvard students defeated the world’s oldest corporation and gained a living wage for low-paid workers
30 mins

Read My Lips
Bush and Blair – that special relationship uncovered in a hilarious musical send up.
Watch as Tony sings into George’s eyes – guaranteed to break the ice at any screening! 2.5 mins

Woomera Breakout
Ska TV’s incredible story of how hundreds of activists broke down the fences to release Iraqi and Afghanistani refugees from Australia’s worst asylum seeker detention centre. 7 minsplus contributions from:

Mark Thomas (activist comedian)

Ben Affleck (Academy Award winning actor)

Martin Sheen (award winning actor from Apocalyse Now)

a former MI5 secret agent
and
Tony Benn former MP

Published Date 9/6/14 8:23 PM

Am working out how to put in an upgraded battery bank for my boat in the space left by removing the air cylinders. (I also need the weight for ballast)

Am looking at installing 2 or 3 of these in the space opened up under my floor (need to be low hight)

Then running 5m of this cable black and red through the centre section of the boat (it is 7.2 long over all)

Connecting it to the battery’s with these

Then putting junction boxes at both ends and feeder lines off to plugs, lighting ect.

Then running the solar charging cable to the battery’s.

(Can use existing one, but need new charge controller soon)

Adding a second alternator in place of the water pump to bulk charge this battery bank.

(need alternator and mounting bracket)

UPDATE

Bought 2x 250amh banner battery’s doing installation under the floor (making the battery box now)

This is the first part of the order I put in:

Thank you for placing an order with us for the following items: 
 

		1	Product code: P01038  Part Number: MFB1-1 “Mega & Midi Fuse Power Distribution Box”  Price: £20.87
		1	Product code: P01023  Part Number: CM35R “Extra Flexible Tinned Copper PVC Battery Cable – 35mm² 240A”  Colour: Red,  Length: By the metre  Price: £7.49
		1	Product code: P01024  Part Number: CM35B “Extra Flexible Tinned Copper PVC Battery Cable – 35mm² 240A”  Colour: Black,  Length: By the metre  Price: £7.38
		6	Product code: P00125  Part Number: CTT35/08 “Copper Tube Terminals – 35mm² Max. Cable”  Stud Hole Dia: 8mm  Price: £0.69
		1	Product code: P01067  Part Number: HRN1002 “Universal 12V Low Tone Disc Horn – 105dB”  Price: £7.39
		1	Product code: P00616  Part Number: BIS1014 “Marine Battery Isolator Switch – 2 Positions”  Price: £19.78
		2	Product code: P00513  Part Number: MD30 “Midi Link Fuses”  Current Rating: 30A  Price: £1.95
		1	Product code: P00527  Part Number: MF200 “Mega Link Fuses”  Current Rating: 200A  Price: £3.48
		2	Product code: P00609  Part Number: BT461P “Positive Battery Terminal Clamp – Vertical M8 Stud & Nut”  Price: £2.69
		2	Product code: P00610  Part Number: BT461N “Negative Battery Terminal Clamp – Vertical M8 Stud & Nut”  Price: £2.69

Published Date 8/16/14 11:05 PM

The 5 levels of gentrification

1 – a poor area has a new transport link to mainstream society, interesting/creative people move in for the cheap rents and the real indigenous culture.

2 – the first enterprises open, islands in the indigenous normal, a second wave of interesting people arrive and create a community around these spaces as well as colonising the indigenous business that are shifting to there spending/focus.

3 – the area is at its hight of interesting, being a healthy fusion of the old and the new, the first wave of business become the foundation. This fusion of the old and the new lasts for a while.

4 – a dulling wave of more affluent people start to arrive, new exploitative business open and push the remaining indigences business out by raising rents. The original social enterprise creative business either have to commercialise or close.

5 – the indigenous community can no longer afford to function in there home and start to be pushed out by rent increases and alienation. The conservative affluent start to force the creative areas to quieten and conform to their norms quickly/slowly killing creativity in the area. Property prices rise agen in reaction to this.

Gentrification is complete, the area is now in the mainstream. Rinse and repeat.

For the comady version of this post

Published Date 8/12/14 12:47 AM

This vibrant and healthy subculture is under considerable threat from gentrification being pushed by the neon-liberal agenda. Boaters with out moorings are largely liberation, which means they are a pushover for sustained bureaucracy, they will fight as individuals and drop away one by one sulking like children or retreating to the drugged periphery to bitch. As long as the change is slow and forcefully they have little power to resist – if the is a big push against them they can combine for a short time and push back as they are competent people, but this will soon falter as they gain ground against the bureaucrats.

How will this community survive the next 5-10 years is a real question that needs answers.

Published Date 8/9/14 11:28 AM

Was asked to speck out basic solar for this boat. They don’t use a lot of electricity so a small set-up would help keep there battery’s topped up and healthy and they could add more latter if needed.  

As it has so much free roof space might as well go for framed panels as they are cheaper. Would need to check the panel size and space around the mushroom vents and find a way to get the cable into the boat to the battery box.

Depending on the cable run, for a short run to the battery’s I would recommend this basic simple 12v set

http://www.bimblesolar.com/offgrid/12v/12v-165w-20amppt

For longer cable runs this one might be better.

http://www.bimblesolar.com/offgrid/24v/24v-165w-10amppt

The advantage of 24v is less voltage drop from long cables the disadvantage is complexity, you are mixing 12v and 24v so could be messy if fixing things with out experience.

You would need to make some custom cables and connectors and secure the run from the panel to the battery box. http://www.bimblesolar.com/extras/6mmcable this cable will allow you to add more panels with out re-wiring.

 

Published Date 7/9/14 4:13 PM

The boating community in the UK is in a privileged position compared to many parts of our over controlled society, you can moor up and stay most places for free on a reasonably priced yearly licence. However this rare freedom is constantly under threat.

The is an issue with privatisation of open public space not only from company’s and government’s but also from our fellow boater “community”. This can come from individuals working with The Canal & River Trust (CRT) to set-up for profit or even “community moorings” or people who find out of way spots and make them there “own” and then try and control these pieces of open public spaces as private spaces.

Of course with everything the is a balances of the good and the bad. CRT have an agenda to maximize revenue for the “public” spaces they own and this will be pushed over all agreed mooring projects so the is a clear danger here for us losing public mooring space to private mooring space even with “community mooring” projects and for profit moorings in “public” are always bad.

The DIY spaces can be good were people take responsibility for cleaning and caring and opening up a little used public space. But often go bad due to unsustainable use of the spaces opened up, piles of trash and anti-social behaver are common as are threats of violence often feed by drunkenness. This brings as bad a “closing” of a public space as more traditional state or private enterprise privatisation.

As boaters we currently have a some lee way to make things work better than they often do, lets see what happens.

Published Date 6/5/14 6:17 PM

Here is a list of components to get basic solar power working on a converted liveabord lifeboat.

Can get from here or here  for about £130 each, will need two.

Then you have a choices of 2 different type of charge controller, possibly unreliably but more efficient MPPT or a bog standard cheap PWM controller – to start out I would probably go for the cheap controller.

MPPT have to import from china here or here  for around £80

Or a very cheap basic controller here for around £12

Then you would need a length of 6mm cable and a pear of MC4 combiners

The boat currently has 4 starter battery wired up into 2 separate redundant 24V banks, I would re-wire one of these as 12v and use that for a while.

todo

Have to test a all the wires and find out what is 12v and what 24v

Have to find out which bank of battery is live

Fitting out

Then get some 3 way car cigarette splinters, good soled wire and 5m of LED lighting strip, more info here

Published Date 5/14/14 3:27 PM

Am planing to do workshops on “journalism with the tool in your pocket” and “solar power for everyone” over the summer at protest camps, festivals and conferences. Am working with a number of other people to do this. But… the is generally a but… 

For the Solar workshops I have a young man who is competent and has energy, but needs to learn the skills of organising, teaching and most importantly internalise the importance of simplicity, getting there slowly.