Mark Thomas - plays "let's start an arms company"

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

Mark Thomas is a British comedian & activist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Thomas

A few months ago I watched a 16-year-old schoolgirl, Ellie, from Oxford, phone a tank manufacturer in Romania. Ellie was part of a group of British students who formed their own arms company and ran it once a week at lunchtime.

(...)

The students attend Lord Williams's Upper School, in Thame, Oxfordshire, and are part of the school's Amnesty International group. Together with a teacher, George Lear, they set up an arms company, Williams Defence - completely legally - from their school premises, as part of a project for Channel 4's Dispatches programme.

The Daily Mail might be tempted to scream, "Kids taught arms dealing at school" (something it might actually approve of, if the subject were referred to as business studies). In reality, however, the pupils approached the project by discussing the human-rights implications of the UK government's arms licensing policy. They interviewed arms dealers, quizzed politicians and discussed citizenship. They ended up presenting their findings to MPs from the quadripartite committee (the select committee with oversight of arms licensing) and the minister responsible, Malcolm Wicks. Parliament, you may remember, is keen that citizenship be taught in schools. I can think of no finer act of citizenship than school students exposing the UK government's failures to control the arms trade.

The students focused on brokerage, which is basically acting as a middleman. For example, someone in the UK could broker AK-47s direct from China to Chad and the guns would not touch British soil. No government controls would have applied before 2004. Since then, laws have been introduced requiring brokers to license such deals. However, the school's investigation highlighted a number of loopholes, particularly for what is called "police and security equipment". The pupils started by locating arms companies on the internet and e-mailing them. It didn't take long to find equipment intended for torture or ill-treatment. They then purchased and shipped it all, legally.

(...)

http://www.newstatesman.com/200604030014
(sometimes the New Statesmen blocks out repeat & international visitors, so here's another link) http://www.ukwatch.net/article/1587

The programme ("After School Arms Club") is on Monday at 8pm on Channel 4 -- I'll keep an eye out for it online & will bump this thread if I find a download.

Also, FYI, Mark Thomas has a book coming out in June:

As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade



Mark Thomas is one of the UK's most effective and best-known political activists, as well as being a highly successful stand-up comedian. His show "The Mark Thomas Comedy Product" ran for six highly acclaimed series on Channel Four. Amazingly, this is his first book. "As Worn by the Famous Nelson Mandela" is a deeply funny, deeply disturbing account of Mark's rampage through the arms trade. Under a fairly flimsy disguise and with the use of some worryingly poor accents, Mark managed to set himself up and begin trading as an arms exporter. His account of his encounters, adventures and discoveries provide a shockingly entertaining read. His aim throughout was to change the law. Embedded within the sharpness of his humour is the truth of an industry that causes conflict and poverty in developing countries. He talks to arms dealers, torture victims, manufacturers, interrogators and politicians, and moves through South Africa, Ireland, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia to the Serious Fraud Office. Mark Thomas exposes the laws and loopholes, complacency and greed that are used to make money through persecution, at the expense of the poorest people in the world. This is a major new book in a bestselling genre, from a highly popular figure.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/009190921X/

I also highly recommend his most recent CD - The Night War Broke Out - which is a 2 hour gig recorded in Edinburgh the eve of the bombing that started the Iraq war.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00064X6ZQ/

You may have to import this as I can't find it at the usual US stores online, although I know that Audible.com carry it.


Finally, I must recommend another comedian called Rob Newman (who toured with Thomas last year). His last CD - Apocalypso Now (Or From P45 To AK47, How To Grow The Economy With The Use Of War) - is a must have (you can order via his website, or the usual places plus Audible.com again). Here's a sample about peak oil:

http://www.robnewman.com/peakoil.mp3

and a review of the show from the Edinburgh Festival last year:
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/reviews.cfm?id=1781362005&sid=10986

Order stuff: http://www.robnewman.com/shop.html

Plus here's a recent article he wrote for the Guardian:

It's capitalism or a habitable planet - you can't have both
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1700301,00.html

And for Brits, his film Robert Newman's History of Oil will be on More4 on April 12th at 9pm.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

1. kick with link to video (download or stream)

http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/04/1812993.php


stream - http://www.indybay.org/uploads/after_school_arms_club.ram
download - http://www.indybay.org/uploads/after_school_arms_club.rm
torrent - http://www.indybay.org/uploads/torrents/after_school_arms_club.rm.torrent

[TheBaldyMan]

2. Naughty old Mark, I love his stuff, too late to k&r :(