video

No third runway video competition announced

Joe — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 17:12:31 +0000

HACAN (Heathrow Association for Control of Aircraft Noise) and Zac Goldsmith MP have announced today a new video competition against expansion of Heathrow Airport.

The project is called 'No Ifs, No Buts' in reference to David Cameron's promise before the last election to rule out expansion at Heathrow. "Yet within 30 months of taking power he set up a commission to look again at the question of a new runway" the website says.

We like video competitions and this one has a first prize of £10,000 and celebrity judges including actor Hugh Grant. Tempted? To find out more details and to enter the competition see http://www.no-ifs-no-buts.com/ and follow @videoheathrow

Zac Goldsmith MP said:

“The competition is open to absolutely everyone, and will be judged on the night by a high profile panel, as well as the audience itself. Among the submissions, I’m looking for some really powerful messages that will be taken up on social and conventional media, and ram home the message that Heathrow expansion is not only the wrong solution for our economy, it is politically undeliverable."

He added:

“A green light for Heathrow expansion is effectively a green light for a vast, foreign-owned and taxpayer-subsidised monopoly on one edge of our great city. The Chancellor needs to stop being led by the lobby groups and think the issue through himself.”

HACAN Chair John Stewart said:

“Many people are hugely disappointed that David Cameron has gone back on his promise not to build a new runway at Heathrow. This ‘No ifs; no buts’ competition can highlight that.”

Campaigners video by the SMK Foundation

Joe — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:45:23 +0000

This brings back some warm memories. This five minute film, produced by the Media Trust for UK-based charity the Sheila McKechnie Foundation (SMK), aims to inspire people to get involved in campaigning.

Every day, ordinary people campaign to right wrongs. Anyone can campaign.

A fine example of people Power against economic polluting giants. The video includes old footage of Plane Stupid, NOTRAG, HACAN, Transition Heathrow and all who organised the ceilidh (2nd half of the video).

SMK is the only registered charity in the UK dedicated to connecting, informing and supporting campaigners. For more information visit smk.org.uk.

Polar Bear video nominated for the Viral Video Award 2010

Becky — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 01:50:22 +0000

Plane Stupid's Polar Bear ad has been nominated for the Viral Video Award 2010! Out of 500 submissions, 20 were selected for the competition starting on Monday 18th October.

Online voting will be open for one month on www.viralvideoaward.com, with the award ceremony taking place on November 19th within the 26th International Short Film Festival Berln run by Interfilm Berlin. The film is written and commissioned by creative agency Mother, made by production company Rattling Stick and directed by Daniel Kleinman.

Aviation is the fastest growing cause of climate change, and the film reminds viewers that each flight has an impact. So get voting from the 18th October!

Glenn Beck versus Plane Stupid

Richard — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:04:35 +0000

This is the funnest thing I've seen in ages. It’s like being slagged off by Nick Griffin and David Icke at the same time.

If you haven’t watched Beck you don’t know what you’re missing. He regularly weeps on TV because he’s so scared of what Obama’s socialist agenda might do to his beloved country.

In the UK, we call such people wusses.

Climate change Santas wish City Airport a very merry Christmas

Richard — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:40:08 +0000

Ho ho ho!

Let's hope the heads of City Airport get coal in their stockings, for being naughty girls and boys.

Plane Stupid at the PR Week awards: the movie

Richard — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:48:30 +0000

See what happened when Plane Stupid borrowed Virgin Atlantic's table at the PR Week awards. I don't think it's spoiling the ending to suggest that they weren't overly impressed.

Great Climate Swoop: trash, trash, trash all the fences

Richard — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:05:56 +0000

There's an old anarchist camp fire song, the chorus of which goes something along the lines of: Trash, trash, trash all the nations, we are the anarchist generation, we blockade military bases, we transform Fascist nations. Bolt croppers and evolution, we're gonna have a revolution. We're gonna move in a new direction, we're gonna start an insurrection.

Now I'm not going to pretend that the Great Climate Swoop is going to lead to the overthrow of the Government and the establishment of a new, horizontal system of mutual aid, but it will (a) be fun and (b) involve some fences. Fences which may not spend too much time standing, as the video above demonstrates.

So don't be put off by the naughty police and their naughtier mates at E:on. Come to Ratcliffe-on-Soar on the 17th and 18th of October... and if you happen to bring some bolt croppers, all the better!

Video of yuppie City Airport demo

Richard — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:47:18 +0000

I love the sound of yuppies in the morning, and hope the people of Newham do, because there's soon to be thousands (well, 32) descending on them to take advantage of British Airways's latest scheme: a luxury business-class only flight to New York for people whose accounts departments really should be checking their expenses more closely.

As Fight the Flights, the anti-City Airport expansion group, have noticed, Newham Council and and London City Airport really care about the local people. LCA is overjoyed at the benefits that increasing flights by 50% will bring to a borough already suffering from below average air quality and higher than average asthma rates.

Not so overjoyed as to actually ask them for an opinion, mind. Their latest consultation seems to have been conducted on the don't ask, don't tell principle. Somewhere between 10,000 and 16,000 households were asked for their views, which the council claims cost them £130,000. Given that there were 92,000 households in Newham back in 2001, we can only conclude that the council decided to spend its money on gold-plated consultation papers costing about £10,000 per household rather than soliciting the views of everyone who lives in its area.

Fight the Flights has challenged the whole expansion fiasco, and is taking Newham to court for a whole host of charges, mostly related to not considering certain Government policies, not consulting properly, and generally being a bunch of tossers (that's a bona-fide legal term, in case you were wondering). Fingers crossed that they didn't save some of the consultation budget back to bribe the judge with, although I wouldn't put it past them.

Camp for Climate Action responds to police

Richard — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:35:57 +0000

Oh this is very sweet: the cops wrote to the Camp for Climate Action, asking them nicely to tell them where the party will be happening. And the Camp wrote back, via t'internet.

It's a great video, but all the better because it's so very, very true. I've been at all the Camps so far, and the only problems we ever had were caused by over-zealous cops out to bash some hippies and look cool in front of their mates. Seeing how they've acted at Climate Camp makes me wonder whether the entire police force is made up of thirteen year old boys out on the pull - all bravado and swagger with no brains behind it.

This is in no way inspired by a bunch of my friends getting arrested for 'police obstruction' only to have the case thrown out of court once it became clear that the cops had made the whole thing up... oh well, there'll be some hefty wrongful arrest claims in the next few months, I'll bet.

Anyway, if you're around on Wednesday, come take part in the very exciting Camp for Climate Action Swoop! Basically pick a colour, meet somewhere in London for 12pm, then scamper through the streets, parks and underground network following a series of text messages. We think the cops have agreed to play, so if they catch you, you're out!

Adopt a Resident visits Hayes Carnival

Richard — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:18:43 +0000

Last Saturday Plane Stupid popped along to the Hayes Carnival to talk about Adopt a Resident.

Local MP and staunch wielder of the Parliamentary Mace John McDonnell filmed this little video of our bike-powered sound system and special guest: the Queen of Sipson.

Check out the photos on our Flickr photostream.

Slacktivism: don't rain on my parade

Richard — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:59:25 +0000

Those of you who read this blog know that we don't really like to have a go at NGOs and other campaign groups. We feel, rightly or wrongly, that the whole climate change catastrophe is rather more important than some silly in-fighting vanguardism. It's what seperates us from the Revolutionary Communist Party / Living Marxism sect currently masquerading as Modern Movement.

But sometimes I get sent things that really piss me off. This video (and Earth Hour) is one of them. Earth Hour, for those of you who didn't get the memo, is a coming together of lots of people who will all turn their lights off for an hour. And then turn them back on again afterwards. Or something.

Now some of us at the coal face of climate change campaigning might choose to describe such an activity as a collosal waste of time that puts forward false solutions that tell people you can stop climate change while keeping all those existing power structures, lifestyles and consumerist nonsenses going. But while we roll our eyes and try to ignore it, the organisers go and put out videos like the one above, which seem to be saying that taking direct action is less effective than sitting in the dark for an hour.

Earth Hour: The Huge Turn Off- Alanis Morissette PSA

Of course they don't stop there: how about the idea that you can keep flying everywhere so long as you use a freshly-bought green lightbulb? Popstrel Alanis Morrisette thinks that's the case, and no one at the Earth Hour HQ thought it a bit weird that she's giving her message of inaction from the inside of a plane.

Don't get me wrong: if the organisers of Earth Hour want to pretend we can solve climate change by getting "millions of people" to turn their lights off only to turn them back on again an hour later then fine. Just stop polluting the airwaves with your ill-thought out, partisan bullshit.

Greenpeace Heathrow campaign takes to the road

Joss — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:47:12 +0000

A silver Airstream ‘campaign plane’ embarked on a month-long tour of London and the Thames Valley yesterday morning to record the voices of people opposed to expansion at Heathrow. The trailer tour will land across the capital as the government prepares to launch a consultation into plans for a third runway at the airport.

Thousands of Londoners’ voices will be collected during the tour and computer-digitised then blared through loud-speakers at representatives of the aviation industry and government – reversing the noise experienced daily by millions of people living under Heathrow’s flightpaths.