2002 Random bits and pieces from the OZ and Operation Alchemy thanx to n23:::

EarthDream 2002 Update

• EarthDream Pages [also for news on Chavez inVenezuela]
  earthdream itinerary
• And there was quite a bit of action at Woomera as previously metioned
  
• There's a couple of pages of cartoons done by miranda mutanta

this is a message from miranda -sorry this is too late to be fully relevant - i've whipped
myself throughly already:

the earthdream mob are out in the desert again, kicking up dust and drawing attention to uranium mining. Right now one crew is acumpanieying adnyamatna elders as the serve an eviction order on beverley uranium mine which is fucking up their sacred sites ad country. the infamous insitu leaching mine has had several major spills of radioactive stuff recently so lets hope they posse don't come back mutated! Meanwhile the rest of the mob are filming an action movie "too deadly" about the mines, the local aboriginal
mob, the protesters and a massive 1930's truck running on vegie oil called dennis the mennis....an action packed feature picture with kicking sound track..by combat wombat and friends...check their website for more details.

On solstice 21st june there will be a party out at lake eyre, on arrabunna land, that has been apropriated by western mining, the company responsible for roxby mine and 4000 tonnes of uranium a year. this amazing salt lake has been the site of several camps, set up by uncle kevin buzzacott, arrabunna elder...the camps got bulldozed by western mining each time so it will be interesting to see what they do now... the party will run
entirely on renewable energy, sun, wind, and veggie oil...with d.j.s and
performers from all over, madder than max sculptures and fire show- it's going to
be wild. we want to link this event to other parties happening at the same time...you put a shout out to us and send some energy to the mission to stop the poison, heal this land and respect it's people, and let us know what you are doing and we will put a shout out to you..

-----------------o)------------------
No Border - No Rizla -
Strasbourg bordercamp 19.7.-28.7.02
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The link between campaigning for No Border and Free Party Tekno is pretty obvious -
We all hate borders - For some of us Borders are simply inconvient because we've lunched out our passport or have a sock on our cock filled with rocks. - for others the issue is more serious - It seems stupid to say - "Oh yeah Globalisation of trade is great!"
And then say "Ah but you can't move over here!" - Free movement of captial without free movement of people ?? That's Just plain Theft U uGly munkey mEn- -

While we The Operation Alchemy crew were becoming Alchololic in the Arena in Vienna -our paid gig in Austria} - the Austrian No-Border caravan were getting the
shit put up them by the Italian Police - We were kinda glad that we'd decided to go to Bonn instead of Genoa that was for sure. But the issue gets a lot closer to home this Year. International noborder-camp in Strasbourg

13.Jun.02 - This year Strasbourg will be the scene of the first Europe-wide noborder camp. This camp initiated by the noborder network and organized by activist groups from a number of European countries will consist of 10 days of actions, workshops and discussions around the central demand of 'freedom of movement and settlement' for everyone. The camp aims bringing together activists, migrants and artists from across Europe in laboratory of creative resistance and civil disobedience. Strasbourg was chosen because it is home to the central headquarters of the Schengen Information Systems [SIS] - not for its reputation as the capital of European unity.

Basically - GO THERE OF YOU CAN AND NOIZE IT UP !!-
They are up for Sound systems for events BUT you need to respect the camp rules or set up your own camp which is a better idea - Hippies and Soundsystems can mix if there is a bit of respect and tolerance from both sides - but don't count on it-

• <<Si t' peux lire francais - y' des infos >>
• <the network>
  
• Details of International noborder-camp in Strasbourg
  
• General contact address

Report from the Earthdream convoy 2001 down under::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

here's the story of the desert mission as written by peter strong, the captain of the "peacebus", which, above expectation, got me to lake eyre end back also attached are some pictures-- hamy ----------------------------------------------

Here is some pix and a story on the latest earthdream mission,contact me, Peter Strong for more info, stories,publishing, etc regarding the mission. Peacebus trip to Lake Eyre-Earthdream 2001. Against all odds the Oms Not Bombs crew and others enlisted to be part of a protest sound system desert safari returned safely to Sydney after an unforgettable magical mystery tour to the north of South Oz. Australian, French, Spanish the international contingent were united in their condemnation of Australiaís uranium industry and all up for a mobile protest party mission.

Leaving on the 26th May the bus pulled out of Graffiti Hall of Fame, salvaged from its 4 month residency out the back of the Broadway squats. It was magically legalised at the last minute so it was able to make the lengthy voyage outback to witness first hand the destruction caused by Western Miningís Roxby operation near Lake Eyre. Twelve people and a dog packed up their lives and boarded the bus at its inner city pitstop, the Graffiti Hall Of Fame. The Peace Bus's destination was due west over 2000k away at Mutonia, near Lake Eyre on the dusty Oonondatta track. Two hours before leaving we had no bus driver, a Frenchman from a European travelling sound system took up the challenge, contacted with two hours notice and enlisted on the mission. He turned up with a box of minidisks and drove and d.jíed us over the dividing range and past the S.A border. Five kilometres short of Hawker the steering nut must have fallen off, we suddenly took an a-line off the track and had to use a coathanger to fix the joint so be could crawl into Hawker and get a replacement nut.

At the Flinderís Ranges town we had one more hurdle to overcome, a curious policeman there had followed us out of town sirens wailing. He pulled us over almost laughing at the multicoloured numberplateless freak on the road. He carried out a full check and defected the vehicle telling us were not going to lake Eyre but over the pits in port Augusta. After steering the conversation to more environmental issues we emphasised the importance of us needing to drop supplies and people to the Mutonia camp, he eventually came to the party and let us through. Triumphant we passed the last gatekeeper and cruised up the dirt track towards the mysterious destination. Mutonia is the name chosen for a place where the collective Earthdream imagination has run wild, we turned up late that night fire twirling on the roof and music blaring broadside through the luggage hatches.

People came out of the darkness to greet us, the bus was positioned under the planes and the party began. Speakers were pulled out of the broadside luggage hatches, stories were shared and food prepared on the open fires. The following days were like an extended beach party with no sea. A pow wow with Kevin Buzzacott brought the camp together, he talked of the continuing struggle to save his country, and to get through to Western mining on the damage they are doing to the areas fragile ecosystems. He was facing court charges for trespassing on his own land and police were trying to institute a permit system for all Earthdream participants.

The Earthdream convoy on its annual liberationist anti nuke pilgrimage had been waiting for us soundsystemless. Wild nights were had around the fire and the mutated sculptures that are dwarfed by the huge desert environment. The massive dome sky of stars gave way to breathtaking sunrises as travelling units made their camps in the arid land. Uncle Kevin Buzzacott Arabunna activist and visionary welcomed the various contingents stressing the crucial nature of the anti Roxby mine campaign, and the wider indigenous struggle in Australia.

The Mutoid Waste planehenge was the site of an amazing fire ceremony one sunrise featuring flame blowing bra outfitted performer standing on top of the twin planes, truly madder than max. No need to battle over petrol in this episode, bring on the vege oil converted trucks and water powered generator rumoured to be in the pipeline. The music coming out of the Peacebus soundsystem was doofy, extreme and ragga jungle and chilled, the System Corrupt jackhammer hard-core audio assault was coined "the machine guns at dawní by some unhappy campers. 200BPM plus coming from a glad wrap covered laptop programmed by one of the French Peacebus travellers.. Wet ground had been spotted at Mutonia. Could it be a spring welling up?, is the dreaming activating magic?, the land responding to the dance, love and focused intentions.

After the alchemy of party, fireshow,the lengthy screenprinting workshops and long desert walks we headed 40k up the track to Lake Eyre. The Keepers Of Lake Eyre camp on the shores of the lake had been trashed by the Western mining company when protester numbers were down last summer. However the pressure of the wheels of the Earthdream convoy has now flattened the road they'd dug up and the camp was retaken, a reminder that the tyranny of distance will not prevent activists from standing up for the amazing and magical lake..

Sitting on the shore of the old lake, its eyrie low frequency hum seems beyond sound, its silence somehow deafening twelve metres below sea level. Days of dust, 360 degree panoramic views will be etched in the minds of those who chose to be part of the protest-sound system safari. The amazing lake spans into the distance, shimmering crystalline white, reflecting the moon at night. Amongst the group of busís many discussions take place, desert treks, magic free energy, city actions, old nations sharing a vision with the post industrial revolution tribe. A few days here seems like an eternity with total exposure to the land that seems to be responding to the influx of people there.

One day the indigenous women part of the keepers of Lake Eyre (K.O.L.E) take the Earthdream camps women away to a special place and ceremony. We prepare for our trip home, the local policeman liaison with the activists at the lake agrees to give the Peacebus the correct paperwork for a hassle free trip back to Sydney. However the lake will not let us leave, we spend another night there. It is Saturday night, at sunset the huge omsnotbombs letters were arranged lake side for a photo shoot then a great unifying dance was had the ìdisco assedî bus rear hatch DJ booth playing to a dancfloor dancing on the reclaimed and now functioning road.

The next morning we packed up and sadly left the lake and started the long journey back to Sydney, the rest of the convoy heading north to Coober Pedy to continue Earthdreaming all the way up to darwin/Timor and across to Perth. We had an adventurous trip back throwing mobile side of the road and street parties. At Junta, west of Broken Hill we stopped to watch the four corners doco,"Under the mirror ballî that interviews some of the crew, after this locals showed us a site to camp and party, other travellers joined us for a feed there. The Peacebus participants were wide eyed and inspired by the powerful land energy one experiences in the central zones of this land.

Somehow we made it, overcoming legal, police hurdles, and mechanical difficulties to once again visit Lake Eyre, the Peacebus only able to join Earthdream for a brief time this year. The mining operation at Roxby is threatening the ecosystem and the artesian waters that flow under the salt lake, they are taking without putting back, to profit a few and leave a legacy of poison for many for years to come. Arabunna elders worry that they might breach the artesian water causing a major flood at Roxby mine, these waters were not meant to process uranium, to take life and bring misery. John Howard could learn a lot form Kevin Buzzacott, Mr.Buzzacott has apologised for the depleted uranium used in missiles in the Balkans war, to those at the receiving end of uranium from his land, sorry he couldnít have stopped it. With our help across Australia and the world he can. For a full story, details on the campaign, diary and pictures form the tour check out www.omsnotbombs.org soon.

EARTHDREAM 2000 REPORT::::::::::::::

Ohms Not Bombs and The Lab Rats Earthdream info show This year an amazing desert journey was enacted that spanned Australia's vast continent. Anti nuke dance heads, Aboriginal activists, Independent media assassins, free energy experimenters, D.J's, artists, travellers and funky nomads created powerful positive vibes that pulsed through remote areas and regional centres in the arid centre. The multi media festival on wheels brought peoples together from 23 countries, the mission is set to become part of the Australian psyche as it continues to set sail seasonally. Earthdream was originally visualised by Robin Cooke who has brought the madder than max alchemy of Mutoid Waste co to Australia. He has been spreading the word about the desert convoy in Europe in the late 80's. Australia's culture of environmental activism and more recently travelling sound systems had been a healthy seedbed for the plan to be co-created in the lead up to the May 2000 departure from Port Augusta in S.A earlier this year, where the convoy left. On the front line of Beverly and Roxby uranium mines the Earthdream Cabaret created an uplifting and entertaining spectacle with a theatrical show dealing with Uranium and other issues with a rap and comedy story line that even had the police applauding. Music and videos were made on the road as well as workshops from screen-printing to music production, bush tucker and aboriginal spirituality carried out. Four sound systems rocked dusty dance floors from Alberrie creek near Lake Eyre to Coober Pedy and Alice Springs and up to Darwin where the cabaret rocked the Darwin Fringe Festival. It was here that a crew managed to get a small system across to East Timor where a performance troop put on events for eager Timorese and international peacekeepers from mountain villages to a 10,000 strong crowd at Dili. The convoy has now returned to the East coast, this summer Earthdream Sydney contingent Ohms Not Bombs will be spreading the message of a Nuclear free just and sustainable future. The Lab Rats with their Solar powered sound system wind powered cinema and vege oil van will be presenting there pollution free party machine at events throughout the summer.

report from jblackkat: Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 01:03:19 PDT
......well we decided to go for it and head off into the desert on the earthdream 2000 tour with our friends from the bedlam/negusa negast possies and many other....to be honest i didnt know what to expect....as it happened maybe 200-300 people in an assortment of utes, combis, and station wagons, and a few busses, all met up in wipena, in the flinders ranges national park, some 150 kn north of port augusta...many came from the recent big rainbow gathering in new south wales (including many americans, the most ive met outside our crew)...i didt fully realize the political weight of this mission, a 3 month trek across the middle of australia, until the i saw undercover cops lurking around wirhting down license numbers. there we watched videos of uanium mine protests, all on contested aboriginal land...quick facts on nuclear power and aussie:aussie is the source for half of the worlds uranium, and is quickly becoming the wolrds biggest wast dump site...many of the mines use a process called in-situ leach mining to get the stuff, meaning they pour sulphuric acid into the ground to dissolve it all then drain it. then they pour the waste back into the aquifier; its illegal in the us and other places. but not surpisingly, many of the mines and dumps are owned by us companies (military contractors primarily)....and many of them are on traditional aborigianl land that has been swindled or forced from them (just like theu.s. right?)....so from wilpena we went to nepabunna , an aboriginal community 60 ks on dirt track form the nearest gas...met some of them (the adyamathana tribe) who wanted to go up to the mine gate, maybe try to get in. so ok then! a convoy of perhaps 40 vehicles drovw yet another 100 kn or so on more dirt road to the gate, where the police were waiting for us...a funny party ensued (sadly, our sound was already ahead to lake eyer camped near an even bigger mine) of rainbow drummers, circus performers, crusty punks, and videocameras..a few went in to get a lock on and were arrested...after a few days blocking the gate, unarresting one friend and camping out, they brought in "the star force" the national riot cops...after beating ans arresting 30 pople who were marching in peacefully on the mine grounds with locals(using pepper spray on an 11 year old local girl as well as evryone else)they came into the camp, grabbing peopme they didnt like, swat team style, the elder present said we should leave, so wedid, prety fucking shook up...we regrouped on an aboriginal campsite, then headed up again with 20 some locals (a lot out here where theres hardly any people)but the poeleice were all smiles, though now they had horses...tons of local and national media were there....one guy from a regional channel even got arrested with the protesters!which has helped get some positive coverage..the next site, near the olympic dam mine of roxby downs, is near a 29 kn long behemoth of a mine, on arabunna land...owned by western ming, known for hiring goons rather than calling the cops...south australia is a masonic state, the cpaitla of adelaide was preconceived and designed to algn with aborigianl sacred sites; the streeets are made with crushed quartz crystal...things are heavy and hectic, but fun as well...

and later to east timor...


timor:
ended up satyin in east timor about three weeks, very few emails threre (or post offices or phones...)....so anyway in the end we never got a boat or much support of any kind from the u.n. or anyone else really...me and bish and shannon were representing the sound crew and ben from oms not bombs brought his amp...we relucnantly had to put all our stuff , monitors, amps , records, on the cargo of the plane, luckily it all survived...so timor! a beautiful place thaT HAS been completely ravaged...ive never met such nice people, never been treated wiyth such respect, never seen so much destruction, nevere played for so many people with such a small rig, never witnessed the banality of parasitic business/UN dealings in such a raw form...we threw together performanes with live and acoustic music for 5000+people, for nigerian soldiers and the people in their protected zone, for womens groups, for loads of people in dili)the capital), baucau, and ailie, the rebel army capital(falintil)....the locals were always surprised to see white people not riding in posh land rovers with nice clothes and straight haircuts....what i learned about the history of east timor, especially the indonesian occupation, is one of the most brutal terrifying horrible atrocities of the 20th century. over a third of the population has been killed, people have been forcefully moved to other islands in droved, injected withlethal drugs while in the hospital, forced sterilization, mass starvation, mass torture....and all with full u.s. consent, full u.s. military back, loads of u.s. dollars (and other countries too, especially england and australia)....but the people are very postive about the future...but now the spectre of the multinationals and wesern cash dominance looms for the future...the UN is the formal government right now...theyve alloted $45 million(u.s.) for the rebuilding of east tiomr, and 1.2 billion(u.s.) for their own wages....so far, a year after the ravaging after the indpendence referndum vote (and the UN pulled out and left the people defenseless) not a hell of a lot of rebuilding has been done(except installing air con in the buildings the UN has taken for themselves...)_i would most defintely like to go again with more resources and better organization(our whole trip was a bit chaotic, still successful) with private backing sorted by us...despite the terror, a very old and very beautiful culture and land lives on....i only hope theres some justice for all those that allowed this (or helped this) to happen....SO now were back in fucking darwin, trying to sell the truck and get some shit together, our journey in aus is beginning to end ...darwin sucks fucking ass by the way, the crew that stayed back did pull of f some wicked performances and parties despite the military police vibe of this place...aus is getting scary, a big s11 protest and the olytpics have got the gov't passing full on police stae laws, giving troops the right to arrest without charge, to shoot civilians, loads of crap in the name of goodwill (sports)......