The Bath Bomb

Bath Bomb #40 Not Out Now

2011-06-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

COMING SOON: A Bath Bomb near you...

...Probably

The Bath Bomb had unexpectedly shut down over the summer due to a journalists' strike, but the editorial collective is confident it will have knocked the rabble back into order in the very near future.

so expect something from us very soon, and sorry for the continuing disruption to our service.
Proof that when things are free, you get what you pay for.

Calling All Squatters!

2011-05-26T09:10:00.001-07:00

Got any positive, funny or random stories from your squatting experiences?

We're putting together an exhibition and zine with positive squatting
stories to contradict and show the other side to squatting, to the one
regurgitated again and again by the mainstream media.

Wherever you squatted, be it Brixton or Kurdistan, or whether you squat
now or you did in the 70s, any positive stories are welcomed -- the more
varied in time & place the better. Some of the stories we have so far
include from after the second world war when families took refuge by
squatting abandoned army barracks, as so many homes had be bombed in the
blitz, as well as some stories of how newly arrived Asian families to
Britain gave up the council housing they had received to squat together in
empty estates to avoid the racial abuse they were suffering.

Your stories don't have to be this extreme though, anything that is
positive, funny or in some way a success of managing to stick it up to the
landlords or a successful use of squatting for a protest or campaign, is
very much welcomed. The stories don't have to be your own experiences but
can be ones of friends, or ones you've heard, just so long as they are
true.

Any good pictures you might have that can accompany the stories would be
brilliant too. Also, if you have pictures of transformations you've made
turning a destroyed building into a beautiful home, they would also be
really appreciated. Of course you can be completely anonymous from
anything you contribute.

Email stories & stuff to homemade[at]lorax.org.uk

Many thanks!

Defend Our May Day!

2011-04-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Defend Our May Day!

As well as its roots in folk history and pagan festivity, ever since the struggles of
the Haymarket Martyrs of Chicago in 1886, the May Day festival has long been a
celebration of workers' power. Even though the rich and powerful would like us to
believe that they have graciously handed us our every freedom, the truth is far
different. Whether it's laws to protect people in their jobs, universal suffrage,
equality, environmental protection, the welfare state or whatever limited
democracy we still have, it's us – or those who have come before us – that have
had to fight and win those rights, wrestling them one by one away from those
would rule.

Now the Con-Dem coalition have announced plans to scrap the May Day bank holiday
and relocate it to the autumn as 'Trafalgar Day'. Yet there are already far too many
religious, military, rich or royal figures that we are forced to revere; May Day is one of
the few days celebrating the achievements of ordinary people, and our self-styled
leaders want to take it from us. It seems that in a time of united struggle against the
cuts, and of re-emerging ideas of people power, that this is a move to try and erase any
memory that the common people have ever won anything.

So, to defend our history, Bath Trades Council, the Bath Anti-Cuts Alliance and others
will gather on Saturday the 30th May, from 11.30am, outside Marks & Spencers at the
bottom of Stall Street. Why not join us with banners, placards and leaflets?
Remember: the powerful give nothing up willingly, and neither will we.

e-mail: bathagainstcuts@yahoo.co.uk
www.bathanticutsalliance.blogspot.com

Picnic against Parasites

2011-04-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

Bath's Republican Picnic against Parasites

In 1649 and the close of the second English Civil War, Britain came very close to being great, with the beheading of Charles I – the best cut of all! However, since Cromwell and his ilk then betrayed all our ancestors' hard work and reinstalled the monarchy, things went down hill from there.

Now, 361 years later, the British public are still being robbed and subjugated to feather these inbred parasites' nests. Figures are difficult to ascertain, due to a shroud of bureaucracy, laws and misinformation, but best estimates place the Windsors' annual expenses and allowances at a figure around £40-50 million. Making a mockery of any concept of democracy, the Battenberg/Windsor family have been granted positions of heridatory government, even though we've never once voted for them and they know nothing about life for ordinary people, or display any competence. This nation's history is a sad one of being invaded and invading others, and the Royals are a blatant reminder of that shame, an everyday symbol of a brutal past and decadent present; whilst we struggle to make ends meet, they flaunt their ill-gotten wealth, with 'Her Majesty' even going so far as applying to the Community Energy Fund back in Autumn, to lessen their heating costs. It seems their soul purpose is to give tourists a good chuckle over our medieval ways, and to clog up our newspapers and airwaves with bushels of yet more useless celebrity trivia pap.

Even if we can't enjoy the sight and sounds of “Off with their heads”, let's at least strip these scroungers of their titles and privilege, and put them to work like the rest of us.

Yet now, they're really taking the piss! Whilst an unelected government Con-Dems us to a £60 billion plus program of easily avoidable cuts – a politically-motivated attack against anyone who's not from Eton – we are now expected to shell out a further £80 million on Royal Wedding security. But could the spectacle of the happy couple's 'special day' actually be a smokescreen, cynically arranged to distract us from the savagery of the Coalition's class war antics?

So, instead of gawping at the box on Friday the 29th April, why not join us in Royal Victoria Park (oh, the irony!) in Bath, for a Picnic Against Parasites! Meeting at the war memorial at midday, please dress for the occasion, and bring food, drink, music, friends and banners; oh, and the odd effigy to burn, too.

Bristol Anarchist Bookfair on its way

2011-03-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

The Bath Bomb Wants You... To Spread Its Filth

2011-03-10T06:30:00.001-08:00

Apologies for yet another unscheduled interruption to our usual programming, but we here at Bath Bomb Towers are very proud to be able to offer this opportunity to you, our loving public...

Yes, you too (but not U2) can now don the badge of being a Bath Bomb groupie, and help distribute the Bath Bomb newsletter in your locality. If you think you have what it takes to join our crack team of penfolds and prop-pushers, and particularly if you can help spread our news/lies to some of the harder to reach parts of Bath and surrounds (not up trees or down holes or anything, but around Larkhall, Weston or Twerton especially), please send off your CV to bathbombpress[at]yahoo.co.uk.

Yours, in anticipation, for the revolution

B.B.J.

Black Fingernail approach to unwanted jobs

2011-01-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

Hello,

As you know, if you are on Jobseeker’s Allowance and you refuse what the Jobcentre calls a reasonable job offer then you get a sanction. To get around this, I have written a letter called Brighton. You will find a copy of it at the end of this email. Using it has allowed me to openly refuse these so-called reasonable job offers without being punished. The more people who know about it the better.

The purpose of Brighton is threefold. First of all, to prevent the Jobcentre from forcing people into taking low paid or unsuitable work. Secondly, to give people who may not be ready to return to work just yet, a breathing space. And thirdly, to undermine the new Work Programme and give it’s grasping providers a massive headache. In short, it is for anyone who wants to actively resist being bullied by the Jobcentre.

Here is how it works. When I sign on, the Jobcentre try and force me to apply for jobs that are at locations I can’t get to on time unless you have your own transport. Or they try and force me to apply for jobs where I don’t have the relevant qualifications or experience. When I protest, they tell me that if I don’t apply for them then it could affect my claim. To keep them sweet, I apply for these jobs. At the same time I send these companies a copy of Brighton.

It works beautifully. If the Jobcentre say anything to me, I just say I didn’t know what they’re on about. Well, there’s no law against scratching your nose is there. They are hopping mad but there’s not a damn thing they can do about it. And at the end of the day, I don’t see why anyone should be forced into taking a shit job just so that this government can pat itself on the back, point to low levels of unemployment and say what a great job they’re doing.

Iain Duncan Smith believes that however demeaning or low paid a job is, people should take these jobs rather than receive benefits. I disagree. Forcing people to take a low paid job just to help this mountebank pay off a debt caused by his millionaire banker chums and his embezzling, house-flipping colleagues isn’t just unacceptable; it’s morally repugnant as well. Duncan Smith’s pronouncements also reveal something far more disturbing: he actually believes he is a force for good in this country. Well, if he believes that these jobs are so nourishing for the soul then why an earth doesn’t he do one of them himself.

What politicians fail to realise is that people remain unemployed for a reason. Well I say fail to realise, I think they realise only too well. Only it doesn’t quite fit into their worldview of how they think things should be perceived according to them. People do actually remain unemployed for a variety of reasons. They may be caught in a benefits trap; they may have been wrongly forced off incapacity benefit or suffering from depression; they may be caring for an elderly relative; or shock-horror, they may not actually want to do the job that they’ve been bullied into applying for.

I’m sorely tempted to send Brighton to Duncan Smith and Grayling just to rub their noses in it; but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet.

I read an article in the newspaper yesterday that said 177,000 people on Jobseeker’s Allowance were sanctioned because they had refused a so-called reasonable job offer. Consequently, as a matter of urgency, I would like you to circulate Brighton as widely as you can. The more people who know about it the better. Its simplicity makes it the perfect weapon to fight the Jobcentre and Duncan Smith’s work programme.

Sincerely,

The Black Fingernail

Encl: BRIGHTON

Dear Sir or Madam

Re:

I am writing to you in connection with the above vacancy, which is being advertised in the Jobcentre.

Because you have chosen to advertise this vacancy through the Jobcentre, a number of unemployed and formerly long-term sick people are going to be forced by the Jobcentre into applying for this vacancy under threat of having their benefits stopped if they refuse. They will be advised to phone you to arrange an interview or ask if they can send you a CV/written application.

The Jobcentre can force the unemployed to apply for any vacancy advertised through them, regardless of their suitability for that vacancy. The unemployed are forbidden from disclosing that they have been told to apply for a vacancy; and nor can they refuse an offer of a job either.

People who are forced into taking a job under threat of having their benefits stopped if they refuse will almost certainly harbour a great deal of anger and resentment. If you employ such a person then that anger could drive them into carrying out wanton acts of vandalism to your company running into thousands of pounds. Your fixtures and fittings could be damaged, for example. Fire alarms could go off repeatedly. Sickness may prevent them from doing a full week’s work. And that’s just for starters.

Before you go getting your knickers in a twist, just be aware that people who remain unemployed do so for a variety of reasons. They may be caught in a benefits trap; they may have been wrongly forced off incapacity benefit; or they may be caring for an elderly relative. The Jobcentre also have what they call a ninety-minute rule. This means that if a vacancy is do-able by public transport within ninety minutes (an-hour-and-a half) from where the unemployed live then they have to apply for that vacancy.

To indicate to you that they do not want this job and that they only applied for it under threat of having their benefits stopped if they refused; they will scratch their noses. And it will be done in such a way as to leave you under no illusions as to where they are coming from.

Should you choose to ignore this then you will have yourself the employee from hell; and all that it entails.