Author: Ric Lander
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Comment: Scottish Government scraps climate targets
Don’t worry about climate targets. They’re just numbers, “nothing more meaningful than a straight line on a graph”, to quote a Scottish Government source this evening explaining away the scrapping of climate goals. What a way to miss the point. And oh boy, by a long long way. Statistics are worth being angry about. Numbers…
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The earth is at the heart of the struggle for Palestine
Today, in the Middle East, the lives and health of people in Gaza, Palestine are being systematically obliterated. The Israeli military have bombed hospitals, homes, refugee centres, schools, and places of worship. At the time of writing, 25,700 Palestinians have been killed and 1.7 million people, nearly three-quarters of Gaza’s population, have been displaced.1 Many…
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Uncovering Edinburgh’s festive radical trail
In December 2023 I took a series of tour groups around key sites in Edinburgh’s surprisingly bright history of festive protest. Our first stop was St. Andrews Square where we celebrated Occupy Edinburgh’s taking of Scotland’s historic financial centre in the winter of 2021, a protest which included, on Christmas Day 2011, the raising of…
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EVENT: Peace, joy and protest – a festive walk on Edinburgh’s hidden radical side
🎄 FINAL DATE ADDED: WED 20th @ 6.30pm 🎄🎄 Please join the waiting list if your chosen date is full 🎄 🇵🇸🏥 £325 already raised for Medical Aid for Palestinians 🇵🇸🏥 thank you! ✊🏻 BOOK NOW VIA EVENTBRITE I’m pleased to announce the walking tour I’ve been researching for some months is now open for…
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Cornwall, Nottingham and Normandy: the Eddowes family story
The story of the Eddowes family begins with the family bible. This book was a bought by Joseph Goodman, who was baptised on 2nd February 1798 at the church of St. Gluvias the Martyr in Cornwall, and some of its pages, adorned with beautiful cursive script, are still in the family. All the Goodman ancestors…
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A walk to Torness
It’s 45 years since 4,000 people occupied Torness, East Lothian, as part of an incredibly vibrant campaign to oppose nuclear power in Scotland, a campaign which could be credited with helping to root Scottish independence in environmentalism: something of a miracle given the movement’s deep connection with “Scotland’s oil”. The plant eventually came on line…
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Canada’s climate crisis by coach: a photo story
A baking Western Canada is on fire once again, following droughts and high temperatures. A week ago I took the bus from Vancouver to Calgary, snaking our way through scores of active and out of control fires. The route also follows the construction of the Transmountain Pipeline which scars the mountainsides (below). Canadian Government-funded, the…
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Oily sponsors come home to Scotland at the World Cycling Championships
The World Cycling Championships are coming to Scotland this week. It’s big news, not just because our wee country likes a spectacle but because it’s the first time all the different disciplines of cycling will compete together: mountain biking, track cycling, BMX and road racing. A first ever ‘olympics’ of cycling. The road races will…
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My tips for taking good protest photos
I like taking photos at protests. I think everyone should. Usually we only spend time in crowds because we’re queuing for something. At a protest it’s because we’ve decided to huddle together purely so we may be counted and seen as a group with an aim. It can, and should be, empowering and exciting –…
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Documentary Short: Torry: Lost to the Harbour?
I’m pleased to announce the completion of a new documentary short film ‘Torry: Lost to the Harbour?’ It premiered an event with the Friends of St. Fitticks Park at the Old Torry Community Centre on Saturday and is now available online. Further reading The film features the campaign to save St. Fittick’s Park, Torry, which…