With efforts by the Labour government to suppress evidence of collusion with the United States threatened with collapse, the head of Britain’s secret service, MI5, last week made a public defence of the use of torture to obtain evidence against alleged terrorists.

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A week ago the BBC showed a Panorama programme about Southmead estate which drew comments from all kinds of people on blogs and websites. Here on Bristol Indymedia the announcement of the programme came with the title ‘Panorama tonight about Bristol’s racist housing estate.’ This in itself drew a variety of comments.
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See if you can spot any of your mates...

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/ read full story / add a comment

tonights panorama (8.30pm - bbc) documents two undercover reporters experiences of 8 weeks living on an estate in southmead.... read full story / add a comment

You are cycling down Park Street in Bristol, probably relishing the wind whistling past your ears and the joy of a downhill run with a view, and as you zip past the shops, you spot two women, dressed in white, faces still and serene, walking with ceremoniously slow steps along the pavement. Then, just as quickly, you have passed them and they are gone from sight.

What that momentary glimpse creates in you, what it inspires, how you interact with it, what you feel, how you interpret it, what you think, what you do because of it, may fuel a wonder that leads you to fertile ground.
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There are four main areas that are worth exploring if you are trying to increase your knowledge and understanding of dyslexia, these are:
- The subject area of ‘dyslexia’ i.e. professionals, academic opinion
- Other dyslexic peoples perspectives of dyslexia, i.e. their opinions, views
- Non-dyslexic peoples perceptions of dyslexia
- Your own dyslexia, i.e. how you conceptualise it, how it affects you, and how you are dealing with it
Each of these areas is elaborated below. read full story / add a comment

Following threatened injunction proceedings in High Court by Mendip District Council supported by Avon & Somerset Police and having taken extensive advice from a QC and other lawyers, the directors of the Big Green Gathering have been left with no option but to voluntarily surrender the license for the Big Green Gathering 2009. read full story / add a comment

In the aftermath to Bristol's long-awaited Co-Mutiny, I wanted to ask 'Where are we now?' read full story / add a comment

Over the past week U.S. newspapers and television networks have been abuzz with reports that Washington and its NATO allies are planning an unprecedented increase of troops for the war in Afghanistan, even in addition to the 17,000 new American and several thousand NATO forces that have been committed to the war so far this year.

America's obedient media is preparing domestic audiences for the possibility of the largest escalation of foreign armed forces in Afghanistan's history.

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This post is designed to be a place where site users can engage in a discussion of the merits and flaws of the current Bristol Indymedia editorial guidelines and their practical implementation. Feel free to leave your comments! The guidelines are always up for negotiation, however volunteers who moderate the site have to try and walk the line between users who complain that hiding anything means that they have become a reincarnation of the East German secret police and others who complain that they would like to see any posts which contradict their opinions hidden.

As always, if people feel strongly about an issue regarding the site the advised course of action is to attend one of the public meetings we hold, however hopefully we can have a productive and well mannered discussion about some potentially contentious issues here on the site too. We want to make the site a place that people want to use, and that means getting feedback from users so we can build the environment you want, as well as encouraging more people to participate in the project by volunteering. read full story / add a comment

This is largely a repost of some comments, but they struck me as important enough to repost here. They contain interesting insights into the state of the left locally, as well as nationally, and suggest some ideas on coordinated Guerilla Gardening as one alternative approach. I hope the imc vol mods don't mind comments being rehashed like this, but they seem important enough to up the profile on them as an article for debate or just reading and acting on. 'Solutions' gives an email address for those interested in taking these ideas further too, so I hope 'Solutions' doesn't mind the profile being upped on that address either.

This story has been edited so that the email address is not "machine-readable"... Otherwise you'll be getting a lot of spam! IMCVol

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Friday Drivetime - Bristol's weekly current affairs roundup
Discussing the big stories in Bristol and around the world with Martin Summers & guests

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I too WANT TO CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE LOOK AT OUR CITY and am responding to the Cover Story in the Film Music Section of the Guardian newspaper last week 11/9/09 and ire expressed by Robert del Naja of Massive Attack. read full story / add a comment

Western sabotages Islamic Courts System read full story / add a comment

Bristol Indymedia has a You-tube channel. read full story / add a comment

REVOLUTION: Why It's Necessary, Why It's Possible, What It's All About
a film of a talk by Bob Avakian
Online at: http://www.revolutiontalk.net/
In 2003 Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party USA delivered an historic talk in the United States. read full story / add a comment

If you are an adult accompanying a sick child to the Children's Hospital, and you fell sick...the NHS rules is not to offer you any help... read full story / add a comment

This Thursday, 3 September, sees a second public meeting for the local community being held at Easton Community centre (ECC), starting at 6.30pm.

The first meeting was held on 5 August at the same venue. Organised by an ad hoc group of local residents and community activists, it was called in response to concerns over local street crime and the trepidation this was causing amongst the community. read full story / add a comment

You would have thought, wouldn’t you, that after the atrocious Gaza massacre of January 2009, when the whole world witnessed war crimes actually being committed as hundreds of white phosphorous bombs rained down on a blockaded population, that Israel would finally have attained the pariah status and disdain that she deserves. Not so, Gordon Brown, a leader of the civilised world, far from condemning, is a Friend of Israel, and is pleased to welcome Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to London. read full story / add a comment

Door 69, or just plain '69', is the story of a house that held the hopes and aspirations of young people for nigh on 25 years, in Copenhagen. '69' is a film and you can see it at The Croft on 31 August, at about 6.30pm. read full story / add a comment