Workers, Know Your History, Mary Brooksbank.

     We should always honour our heroes, we have many, but if we don't record them they will disappear from history, and we will be the poorer for that.

Mary Brooksbank:

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Armed Police, Stop And Search, Democracy??

      Another matter that is raising the hairs on the back of my neck is the recent case of a driver being stopped for speeding in Aberdeen and it turns out that both police officers had holster guns strapped to their sides. These were later joined by another two police officers, who it appears also had holstered guns. Four armed police for a speeding offence. Some time earlier it appears that three police officers were seen walking through the streets of Inverness to a disturbance in a restaurant, all three were armed with holstered side arms. Is this Scotland, land of the supposed, unarmed police force, or the US of A? Slowly, slowly, little by little, the police in Scotland are being armed, not by parliamentary legislation, but the designs of the chief constable of Scotland. He has apparently stated that this is not a political matter, it is a policing decision, and he will make the decisions. Well so much for "democracy".

       Still going on about the policing in Scotland, it seems that we are a nation of very dodgy characters. The latest figures show that we in Scotland suffer stop and search intrusions, nine times more than the citizens of New York. Obviously the police in Scotland view the people of Scotland as nine times more criminal than the NYPD view their citizens. Either we are a nation of dodgy criminals, or we are cursed with a more authoritarian police force. I know where my opinion lies.

      Armed police started appearing in our cities, airports etc. under the guise of anti-terrorism, now it seems that they are needed to stop speeding offenders, and to stop disturbances in restaurants. Lets go the whole-hog and arm traffic wardens, job centre employees, security attendants in shopping malls, you know how crazy some people get during the sales. The poison seeps through every fibre of society, authoritarianism, control, intimidation and repression.

     Let's get together and insist that the guns get off our streets. You can't trust a person who could get angry and has a gun, whether they have a fancy uniform or not.

Visitann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Scotland Against Fascism.

Edinburgh UAF Public meeting:
After the Woolwich murder...
Tuesday 2nd July,
7pm Edinburgh Central Mosque,
Potterrow EH8


       The racist Scottish Defence League and the Nazi British National Party are seeking to exploit the horrific murder of Lee Rigby to whip up hatred and division, which has already seen violent attacks against the Muslim community including a series of arson attacks on mosques in England.
      The racist SDL have organised demonstrations against mosques in Dundee and  Dumfries, as have the Nazi National Front in Aberdeen. All of these have been against the wishes of the local community.
    UAF has worked with local communities to organise counter-demos, to oppose and unite the community against the hate mongering and racism peddled by the SDL. The racist SDL have been repeatedly outnumbered and shown clearly that they are not welcome.
     The attacks in England after the horrendous Woolwich murder has been much worse. We invite you to come together to discuss how we can beat the racists as a united community.
Edinburgh Against The Racist SDL
email UafEdinburgh@riseup.net

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An Inspirational Life.

       I just received this sad news, from a wobbly friend and comrade, I'm sure he will have no objections to my sharing this with all those wobblies, friends and comrades out there, and like he said, we should use his life as an inspiration to organise for that better world.

      Dave Patterson, an electrician, who worked mostly overseas in places like Azerbaijan and Angola, died last night. Dave joined the IWW before anybody else I know of in Scotland, before the Stevenson College branch of the 90s. He joined the Clydeside IWW, at its inception. He was born in Springboig, Glasgow, and as a teenager was involved in the formation of the National union of School Students in the mid 70s. He only rarely made meetings and events due to his work, and his Scottish residence was south of Aberdeen.
      He was a dual carder also in OILC. In the course of a year I would usually see him a few times, after attending different football matches or at the STUC Mayday. In 2011 he got married to Lucy, a nurse in Edinburgh. This year in May, he was absent. A mutual friend came up to me before the Clydeside IWW took part in the procession, to explain he had been diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable strain of cancer. A few days ago he was moved to St.Columba's  hospice in Gogar near Edinburgh.

     This is a sad and sudden demise and in Scotland we mourn the loss of Dave, an unforgettable character. But knowing Dave and his affinity with the wobbly tradition, he would say - "Don't Mourn, Organise!"

 ann arky's home.

- ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!!!

       Aberdeen has been in the news recently for some very different reasons. Of course most football fans will know that the city's team is having a crap season. Its council workers are not doing so well either. The council has been trying to get them to take a 5% cut in their wages, though I'm delighted to see that the workers through their union have refused to willing throw themselves into dire poverty. Like everybody else they are facing increased costs in energy and food along with the VAT increase, it is more likely that they will need a 5% increase in wages just to stand still. Another occasion where the name Aberdeen has come to my notice is by way of Aberdeen Asset Management. As its name suggests, it is an asset management company. Its CEO is a Mr Martin Gilbert, no he hasn't taken a 5% wage cut, on the contrary, his basic annual salary went up from meagre £400,000 to a more acceptable £500,000, on top of this he had a nice little bonus of £3.3 million. You would think that might be enough to keep him above the deprivation line, even although it is not a full time job, well he appears to have time on his hands as he is also Chairman of First Group and Chaucer Holdings which brings him in some spending money to the tune of £262,000. How many jobs at more than a quarter of a million pounds can one person hold down. Just a few examples of our millionaire cabinet's mantra, “we're all in this together.”

       The sooner we scrap this greed driven parasites paradise and replace it with a society based on the needs of all our people the better. We know there is a desirable alternative of communities based on mutual aid, co-operation and sustainability, where we can all contribute in the knowledge that our needs will be seen to and we will not be carrying a bunch of greedy parasites on our backs. Also just maybe, Aberdeen Football Club might win the SPL, well that's probably a wish too far.

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