Anarchic update news all over the world - Part 2 - 22 February 2017

Today's Topics:


1.  Britain, freedom news: SolFed Case study: Dealing with dodgy
      property firms in Brighton (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  Poland, rozbrat: Locks hunting and economic sense - Jaroslaw
      Urbanski [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  Brazilian Anarchist Coordination (CAB): All solidarity to
      the 24 detainees in protest against the privatization of the
      State Water and Sewage Company of the state of Rio de Janeiro
      (fr, it, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1




In summer of 2016, Brighton SolFed was organising with a Leaders tenant who was being 
evicted from their flat. Following a series of pickets, that dispute ended after an offer 
of compensation to the tenant. You can read more about that dispute here dispute at 
Brighton Solfed's website. ---- Here, another Leaders tenant from a nearby town, who 
contacted Brighton SolFed during the summer dispute, tells her story about how she has 
been mistreated by Leaders, particularly about how they have neglected the property and 
tried to evict her and her partner by bullying them. ---- Please note that this article 
contains some discussion of mental health slurs. ---- My partner and I moved into a 
property through Leaders lettings in November 2015. From day one there have been problems. 
The manager of the branch offered us long term and that is not what we got. We also 
noticed a number of repair issues when we moved in. The windows were old, rotted and 
falling off, and the flat was freezing. Leaders said that the flat would have storage 
heaters, but it didn't; it just had convectors that did not work. In addition to this, the 
bathroom sink, toilet and bath was loose, and there was damp and mould that had to be 
painted over in the bedroom, and lounge floorboards that moved up and down.

In January 2016, new windows were fitted, but they were very bad quality. We also noticed 
that the landlord did not want to communicate with us. I asked the branch manager why and 
he said it was because I am "mental" and that the landlord wanted nothing to do with us.

Just before May 2016, we took our grievance further and put in a formal complaint to head 
office. That is when Carole Charge, a senior member of staff, became involved. She was 
rude, accusing us of making up the disrepair and lying about the branch of Leaders that we 
were complaining about. We went to the property ombudsman but they just took Leaders' 
side. All they said was that Carole Charge is right. Our complaint is still ongoing.

In July we had an inspection with Environmental Health, and Carole Charge attended it with 
Ian Colban, also from Leaders. Carole kept having a go at me and my partner, saying that 
she did not think the disrepair was as bad as we claimed. Even after I had received an 
electric shock in the flat she still took no interest.

After the inspection, the officer found several problems in the flat and asked for the 
landlord to make repairs and get a surveyor to check the floorboards. We had already had 
our own surveyor report done, which said that the floorboards were unacceptable, as well 
as a builder report that said the floorboards were defective.

A surveyor's report was completed for the landlord. However, he claimed there was nothing 
wrong and that he could only talk to the landlord and not us. When the report came, it was 
for the attention of Carole Charge and not the landlord. It was also full of lies, which 
we have reported to the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors.

Having already paid six months' rent in advance, we were then asked to pay another six 
months' rent in advance in May 2016. Two days later we were given a Section 21 notice. We 
complained about the Section 21. Carole Charge then told us that from then we were only to 
deal with her, and we were no longer allowed to deal with the branch or to contact the 
landlord.

Carole Charge then accused us of having rent arrears, despite the fact that the rent was 
paid in advance.

We went to court in September for the Possession Proceedings. The landlord did not turn up 
and instead sent the branch manager and a barrister. Leaders still claimed we were in rent 
arrears. The judge asked how that could be when Leaders had the receipt for six months' of 
rent paid in full.

Within weeks the landlord withdrew proceedings and we started to look for a new home. 
However, we continued to have almost daily dealings with Carole Charge regarding the 
disrepair. At times we had no hot water. These dealings took up all of our time.

By October, the landlord had issued another Section 21. We went to the hearing in January 
2017. At the court no solicitor turned up to represent the landlord. Our barrister was 
there, as was Carole Charge, armed with the lies from her surveyor's report. When we went 
into the courtroom, Carole said that the landlord needed possession immediately and the 
judge gave us a 14-day eviction order.

In late January 2017, we were still at the property, having just given one month's notice. 
We have paid the last month in rent and are moving to a nice place. We cannot wait.

Even after giving notice and paying the last month's rent we are still having problems, 
now with Daniel Dowling who works for the group Romans lettings who have merged with 
Leaders. He has taken over from Carole Charge and is just as rude and unhelpful as she was.

This clearly goes to show that regardless which representative of Leaders you are dealing 
with, their primary concern is protecting the interests of the agency and the landlord, 
and not for the welfare of tenants.

The effect this has had on my partner and myself is very severe. My nerves are bad, and I 
am always feeling worried that the staff will do something to me. I have had lots of 
harrasment and abuse, they have ignored us, and they have made our lives a misery.

Hopefully sharing my story will encourage more people who have had dealings similar to 
ours, with Leaders or any other agency, to come together to support one another to fight 
back against exploitative lettings agents, so as to improve conditions for everybody.

This article has been published as part of a series by Brighton SolFed analysing the 
group's active campaigning in the city over the past year. Keep an eye on 
www.brightonsolfed.org.uk for more.

https://freedomnews.org.uk/case-study-dealing-with-dodgy-property-firms-in-brighton/

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Message: 2



Those tracking reports of organizing blockades hunting will come to the conclusion that 
the main reason for their opposition to the "entertainment" of killing wild animals. 
Ethical issues are a major factor in motivating activists and activists to act. However, 
the occurrence of hunting against a more extensive sense, the economic struggle. There is 
opposition to the increasing exploitation of nature for immediate commercial purposes. 
---- Looking at the data for the last eight seasons hunting (2008 / 2009-2015 / 2016) 
located on the sides of the Polish Hunting Association (PZL), we see that the number of 
the killing of a number of game animals increases. This applies particularly to fallow (an 
increase of 123%), mouflon (an increase of 192%), deer (102%), deer (30%), and finally the 
wild boar (53%). While declining number of hunted birds for example.

  Partridges (down 94%) and pheasants (down 23%), as well as hares (down 16%), it clearly 
draws a tendency to raise as much meat. Hence the growing hunting large animals and small 
decreases. If you compare the results of hunting over the last eight years, we note that 
today estimated producing more than 1/2 more meat than before. This is confirmed, the data 
of the Central Statistical Office (GUS) for the purchase of game. In relation to the deer, 
roe deer and wild boars (main large mammals game), it increased between 2010 and 2015 by 
more than 40%. It is - let us add - European trend that can be observed for several 
decades. Hunters and some scientists explain this rather natural factors rather than 
economic. They argue that hunting is a consequence of population growth mammals game, 
which essentially acts independently of man. In fact, however, it features "Protective 
natural" hunting come down to breeding operations, for example, criticized by 
environmentalists feeding the animals in winter and introductions, namely the introduction 
of non-indigenous species into the ecosystem.

They hunt not only the hunters gathered in circles PZL, but also foresters and the State 
Forests (LP) no secret that they would like to make money not only on the timber trade, 
but also more and more on the sale of venison. State Forests is a huge company. In Poland, 
more than 90% of the forest area is subjected to intense economic exploitation. The 
company brings annually more than 400 million net profit, the income from the sale of 8.2 
billion. State Forests therefore have the means to implement their marketing plans. This 
probably also have to serve the changes in the Law of hunting. The amendment of this Act 
except that it is a response to the demands of hunting enthusiasts (recruited mostly from 
privileged social classes), it has opened new possibilities for uninterrupted operation fauna.

In trade venison mediated by private companies. Most of the game is exported to the West 
(mainly to Germany). According to the Central Statistical Office the value of exports in 
the last decade has increased by nearly 80%. This market today is worth approx. 177 
million zl (47 mln. $) And is developing dynamically. There are also marketing 
considerations, how to encourage Poles and Polish women to buy and consume venison, which 
for most so far is simply too expensive and difficult to access. Slowly, however, the plan 
is being implemented to stimulate domestic demand for venison, which rather contradicts 
the translation of that hunting is limited only to maintain biological balance and the 
"protective and natural."

What does it really mean? Today killed approx. One million wild game (85-90% killing 
members make PZL, the remainder mostly foresters). Pessimists say that the victim could 
use a year to fall even more than 1.5 million animals had to take into account those who 
die wounded, but not caught by hunters. Pressure on the shooting is still growing, but 
that does not mean that the population of large mammals game decreases. On the contrary, 
it puts a lot of effort in order to prevent this, together with the aforementioned feeding 
or introduction of alien species to the ecosystem (eg. Deer). Whole tracts of forests and 
the neighbor was turned into a de facto breeding areas, and the exploitation of forests 
(stretch) promotes the formation of logs and thickets, where many wild game feeds. Modern 
breeding forest is much sparser forests of a few centuries, which - despite appearances - 
is conducive to the development of species of game animals. Above all, however, the 
structure of today's farming contributes to the expansion of the size of many hoofed 
mammals that have gained access to large areas of rich food at any time of the year basically.

Against this background - not much else that extra - sense to acquire the lock hunting. 
28% of our country is covered by forests, and along with the adjacent fields to them, is a 
huge area that has been appropriated for the needs of a purely mercantile purposes. At the 
junction of the state sector (wild game theory belongs to the state), and business born 
private fortune and prosperous lives clerical nomenclature. It sold not only wood, but 
also in the growing number of venison. The problem is, whether it happens in the public 
interest?

According to one of the studies, the hunters (approx. 100 thousand. People) are mainly 
people with higher education (49.7%), men (97.4%), representing private entrepreneurs 
(34.7%) or - additionally - managers corporate executives and public institutions (32%). 
It is a "hobby" extremely elitist. In turn, the same meat consumption is closely 
intertwined with the position they occupy in society. As I have shown in my book, "Society 
without meat," referring to the CSO survey on Polish households, those with the lowest 
incomes consume about 1/5 less meat in general, than households with the highest incomes. 
In the case of wild game gap it is probably even higher.

Locks hunting are therefore an attempt to regain the initiative in the social area, where 
the concept of the common good, as forests and wild animals have long since lost - despite 
the current government's rhetoric of nature protection. It protects only resource on which 
his paw laid the privileged social classes - men with higher education in charge of 
private companies or enterprises and state institutions.

Article will appear in the upcoming issue of the journal "A-yes"

http://www.rozbrat.org/publicystyka/ekologia/4511-blokady-polowa-i-ich-ekonomiczny-sens

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Message: 3



The CAB, the Brazilian Anarchist Coordination, hereby expresses its solidarity with the 24 
detainees in today's demonstration, February 20, against the privatization of CEDAE, the 
State Water and Sewage Company of the state of Rio de Janeiro. We repudiate this brutal 
crackdown on protests and demonstrators by the state and military police, using hard 
plastic bullets that have caused perforations and serious injuries to demonstrators. ---- 
About 3,000 protesters were today in the Legislative Assembly to stop this attack on the 
people, the bill that allows the privatization of CEDAE. After the vote the act went to 
the CEDAE cede, in Square Eleven, where it was violently suppressed by the shock troops. 
An enormous military scheme was set up by Governor Pezão to guarantee his maneuvers, with 
national guard, army men and the troops of shock. With the vote in hand by Mr Picciani 
(PMDB) and the whole host of politicians in defense of the interests of capital, the 
proposal was approved by the MEPs, which will have grave consequences for the people since 
access to water is A basic and essential service. The privatization of CEDAE is one of the 
conditions for the Tax Recovery Plan, plus a means imposed by the Temer government to make 
the poor pay for the crisis of the rich.

Stop criminalizing the protests!
All solidarity at this moment!
Fist closed to the enemy! Hand extended to the companions and companions!
Against the cuts in social rights!

https://anarquismo.noblogs.org/?p=612