CORPORATISM AND HYPOCRISY.

        As Gaddafi kills his own people in a last grasp at power, Obama, Cameron et al demand he stops killing the protesters and steps down, and nobody can complain about that. Of course it is not the people that they are concerned for, but the price of oil. This becomes obvious as we look at a country not a protesters stone's throw way in another part of the Middle East. A country where protesters have taken to the streets and the leader of that country orders a crack down on the protesters, and at least 29 are killed, without a murmur of complaint from the Obama/Cameron duo. Why, well because the killer in this case is the West's puppet in Iraq, namely Maliki. You see, if we put him there, then he must be a good man killing bad guys. In the hypocritical set up of Western politics, the last thing they want is to see is the people of Iraq take control of their own country. After all we have just spent a lot of time and blood setting up a pro-Western puppet government, the last thing we want is for the Iraqi people to be in charge of their country. So all protests in that country must be bad and have to be put down with whatever force it takes. Power, oil and profits first, people and democracy somewhere down the list. The system of corporate capitalism with its various governments prepared to use their military might to increase those sacred principles of power, oil and profits, will never work for the benefit of all our people. In the eyes of the corporate developed world, people are dispensable. However, we know that it is the corporate world that is dispensable and the people can create a world of mutual aid, based on the needs of all our people, founded on peace, co-operation and sustainability. The only question is WHEN.

 

More on this HERE:

ann arky's home.

WORKERS KNOW YOUR HISTORY; CLYDESIDE 1937.

    

      Throughout the entire time capital;ism has been in existence the plight of the workers has been a mixture of poverty and struggle. The struggle to try to improve their standard of living, and at times, like at present, a struggle to try to hold onto what living standards they have. It has been a never ending struggle as the desires of the two groups involved are completely incompatible. The bosses want every increasing profits, and more effort and production from the work force. The workers on the other hand just want a decent life for themselves and their friends and family. The workers will not see that decent life for themselves, friends and family until they resolve that incompatibility by getting rid of the employers. We the workers don't need them, they on the other hand do need the workers.

THE CLYDESIDE APPRENTICES STRIKE, 1937.

WAGE RATES.

       Apprentices for some time had felt that they were drastically under paid, and were no more than a form of cheap labour. Apprentices' wages ranged from 8/- to 19/- a week. In his first year he would be paid from 8/- to 12/- per week and a last year boy would receive 16/- to 19/-. Apprentices of 23 years of age would be paid 20/- per week. Boys in their last year would on most occasions be doing the same work as a skilled man but were paid 19/-. An apprentice plater in his last year would be paid 19/10 a week while two labourers working with him would be paid £2:7/- each per week. In some cases a boy could use up to two thirds of his wage in transport just getting to and from his job together with his insurance, the remainder was to go towards his keep and put some money in his pocket.

STRIKE.

          The strike started on March 18th 1937 when 70 apprentices at Lobitz engineering factory took strike action. On Wednesday March 31st 500 apprentices walked out at the Fairfield Shipyard, at Govan in Glasgow. The involvement of Fairfields apprentices proved to be a catalyst for the strike as they were able to form mass pickets and encourage other apprentices to get involved. By Saturday 5,000 apprentices from over 60 firms had joined the strike. By the end of the following week 90% of the 14,000 apprentices from 130 firms in the Clydeside area were out on strike. The newspapers attempted to portray the strike as some sort of childish juvenile prank which would soon blow over. By the end of April the Govan apprentices had taken over an abandoned shop as their headquarters. The boys were aware of the fact that inactivity would erode support for the strike. An extensive communication system kept hundreds of apprentices involved in maintaining the strike. They organised the "Apprentices Olympics" and there was also a daily football league with 48 factory teams to help maintain enthusiasm for the strike. The original view that the boys' strike would collapse because of lack of organisation was no longer held with any certainty. One union official stated that, "organisation among the boys was something wonderful". Employers started to send letters to the parents of the boys worded in a similar manner to:

       "Dear Madam, Your son John ceased work last week. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that unless he returns his action may endanger his future career" They also stated that the boys indentures made it unlawful for them to strike."

The apprentices stated their demands in a Charter:

A standard rate of wages and an increase in wage each year; 1st year, 15/- a week, 2nd year, 17/6 a week, 3rd year, 20/- a week, 4th year, 25/- a week, 5th year, 30/- a week.

A reasonable ratio of apprentices to journeymen. In addition, they demanded a proper trade training, and no sacking at 21.

          By April the 7th many firms were in difficulties because of shortages of components normally produced by older apprentices. The situation was made worse by many journeymen refusing to do apprentices' work. The engineers in Govan threatened to join the apprentices on the street if any adult was suspended because of hold-ups caused by the strike.

EDINBURGH, MIDDLESBURGH & NEWCASTLE.

        The strike was now spreading out from Clydeside. In Edinburgh apprentices with support of the unions, having endorsed the Clydeside Apprentices' Charter, sent their demands to the employers and joined the strike; apprentices in Middlesburgh and Newcastle followed. On April 12th the Clydeside District Committee of the AEU, and the Confederation of Shipbuilding & Engineering Unions offered support and strike pay to the apprentices. On Friday April 16th they added to that support by calling a one day general strike, and on the Clyde 100,000 men stopped work in support of the apprentices. The Glasgow Trades Council printed a special bulletin for sale to the public allowing the apprentices to put forward their case and counter the misrepresentation in the capitalist press. Glasgow City Council granted permission for the apprentices to organise street collections. £320 was raised on the first collection, and the sale of the "Bulletin" raised a further £120.

OFFICIAL RECOGNITION.

        The Confederation of Shipbuilding & Engineering Unions together with representatives from the Apprentices' Strike Committee asked to meet the employers to discuss the apprentices' demands. The employers refused, insisting on negotiating with each shipyard and each workshop separately. The unions decided to ban all overtime until the apprentices returned to work in victory. This put at risk the completion of £20 million of armaments under production on the Clyde. The strike's aims gained considerably in strength when the AEU and other unions gave the strike official recognition. In the May 1st issue of the "Challenge" the Apprentices Strike Committee stressed that the apprentices would not return until their wage demands had been met and the right of the unions to negotiate for the apprentices had been won. The employers refusal to negotiate with the apprentices' leadership more or less changed the strike into a lock-out.

AGREEMENT.

           On the 30th of April local union officials urged a mass meeting of strikers to resume work so that their grievances could be pursued through established channels. Failing this the officials predicted a gradual disorganised return to work, in which case the boys' spokesmen would be victimised. In these circumstances the apprentices had no option but to reluctantly return to work. They agreed to re-start work on May 5th 1937. The employers responded by introducing a new minimum apprentice wage scale ranging from 12/6 to 27/-. While the employers conceded wage rises, the apprentices' strike had confirmed their aversion to trade union representation for apprentices.

SECOND STRIKE WAVE.

         In spite of hostility from the AEU leadership, the Clydeside Apprentices' Strike Committee remained active through the summer of 1937, maintaining a skeletal organisation ready for any event. In September 1937 apprentices' frustration at the failure of industrial relations procedures to resolve the issues raised by the Clydeside apprentices sparked a second wave of strikes, which swept through many main English engineering centres. The English apprentices failed to generate the cohesive organisation shown during the Clydeside strike. English apprentices were more willing to settle at a factory level thereby abandoning the "Apprentices Charter". The 1937 apprentices strike transformed the status of apprentices from separate individuals with practically no employment rights, to unionised workers. The apprentices were not forced back to work on the employers' terms; they succeeded in forcing major concessions on earnings and trade union rights from the employers.

More on Glasgow's working class history HERE:

SOLIDARITY.

ann arky's home.

CLEAN UP PAISLEY'S STREETS.

Colleagues,

      We have just had it confirmed that the racist SDL (Scottish Defence League) are planning to have one of their "flashmob" static demos in Paisley, Dunn Square on Saturday 26th February. We need to stop them trying to bring their rascist poison to the streets of Scotland. We know that they have strong associations with the BNP and the fascist British Freedom Fighters and they no doubt want to stir things up before the Scottish elections.

      UAF and other anti-racists will be there to stop them, please come along. If you know anyone in Paisley, or anyone who would like to help, please contact uafscotland. We hope to have a presence in Paisley on Saturday at the Cenotaph at 10.00am. 

SOLIDARITY.

uafscotland@gmail.com

ann arky's home.

PEASANTS AND PITCHFORKS---WHERE ARE THEY!!!!

       Listen carefully and think what is being said. Where are the peasants with their torches and pitchforks?

Nice to get this perspective on the corporate fascism that we live under given an airing.

       It is obvious that running to the ballot box to change the smiling face at the podium doesn't remove the power behind the throne. It is the system that stinks, it is the system that does the damage, not the prince on the throne. It is the system that we have to get rid of and replace it with a system  based on people's needs founded on mutual aid and sustainability.

ann arky's home.

UNREST IN THE MIDDLE WEST???

     

      Massive demonstrations for over a week, municipal buildings occupied, spreading to other areas??? You've read it in the papers, saw it on the telly, sorry, no you haven't. I'm not talking about the Middle East, I'm referring to that land of the free, land opportunity, the good ol' US of A. Though these events don't seem to register on the Western media radar.

UK.

      It is happening in the state of Wisconsin where they are facing draconian cuts and on top of that the Governor is trying to pass legislation that would abolish collective bargaining for all public sector workers. The workers have not taken it lying down, there have been demonstrations of 70,000+ and they have continued for approximately a week, the municipal building has been occupied and the demonstrations are spreading to other states, read more details HERE. However you will have to look hard and long to find it reported on our “open and fair” media. After all, they don't want to convey the idea that there is unrest here in the West, oh dear no, everything is fine here, we are the model for the rest of the world.

GREECE.

      The cuts and the legislation that is causing the anger among the ordinary people over in America, is exactly what is going on here and in most of the developed world. Not only is the very fabric of our society being decimated to safeguard the financial sector, allowing them to seize all public assets, but they are doing their damnedest to introduce legislation to hamstring the workers from fighting back. It is only a few weeks since we had the Institute of Directors over here spouting the same venom, namely that all collective bargaining should be abolished within the public sector.

FRANCE.

      Though the focus is on the Middle East, and I agree, their problems are massive and in most cases, a matter of life and death, that doesn't mean that people in the rest of the world are satisfied with the system. In fact there is growing disgust and anger at the continual siphoning up of all the wealth to a pampered parasitical elite, while at the same time seeing what living standards we have being shredded to protect that pampered elite. Make no mistake, the parasites want even more, and are making a grab for all the public assets that can turn a profit.

USA.

       Most of us are living under a government that is putting in place legislation that nobody mandated them to carry out. We have a right to take to the streets and remove those who usurp the will of the people in favour of their millionaire friends. We have a government of parasites legislating to enhance the wealth and power of the parasites.

IRAN.

      A unified resistance to this corporate fascism is required, not a piecemeal, in our own back yard type of response. The attack is on the working class across the globe, the least we can do is to hit back with a pan-European attack on this system of greed and exploitation, while at the same time supporting in what ever way we can all those in other areas who are rising up against injustice and oppression.

CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER???

AN INJUSTICE TO ONE IS AN INJUSTICE TO ALL.

       Two disability claimants, both from West Dunbartonshire, who were deemed fit for work during a work capability assessment, have both died of their disability while waiting for their appeal to be heard. Both had their incapacity benefit withdrawn while waiting for their appeal. It is obvious that their assessment was wrong and it is difficult to imagine the stress added to their lives by having to face this type of work assessment, but to have your benefit cut while waiting for your appeal to be heard is a totally unnecessary and further injustice heaped on vulnerable people. The organisation and the people that carry out these work assessments have a duty of care for those they are calling to be assessed. In the corporate world there is such a thing as corporate manslaughter, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 is a landmark in law. For the first time, companies and organisations can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter as a result of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of a duty of care. Surely this can be applied to a company that is acting on behave of the government. It would be fair to assume that the wrong assessment of these two poor individuals and the further difficulties they faced through lose of benefit could be a contributory factor to their deaths. Where was the duty of care for these two cases, it would seem that the company failed in its duty of care in both these incidents. Could it be a case of corporate manslaughter? Perhaps the duty of care was to the shareholders of the company responsible for the assessments and the government that pays them handsomely. How many more people deemed fit for work, will die of their disability while waiting in dire poverty for the appeal to be heard?

ann arky's home.

GROWING ANTI-PEOPLE LEGISLATION.

     

        In one of my recent posts, “Anti-people legislation”, I stated that the Institute of Directors has called for collective bargaining to be scrapped for all public sector workers. Some may think that this is too far fetched to come about. However, just cast your eyes across the pond to that land of freedom, the good ol' US of A, and you will find that the Governor of Wisconsin has included in his budget proposals, legislation that would more or less remove collective bargaining from all public sector workers. Fortunately the people are having none of it, as they have taken to the streets in their tens of thousands and are being joined by workers in other states and across the border in Canada. You can read a full report HERE. Of course our media is not big on reporting mass demonstrations in the western developed countries, they prefer when it is happening in other countries. The only way we will ever turn around this greed driven corporate world to a federation of sustainable needs based societies, will be for the workers across all borders to link hands and fight in unison. It is a common enemy, the state and its companion the corporate world, no matter the country. An injury to one is an injury to all.

ann arky's home.

VOTE FOR ANARCHY?

      Is this the answer that anarchists have been looking for? It certainly is a novel approach towards that anarchist society. Which party in Britain should we anarchists vote for to bring about that new society we have been struggling for over the last couple of centuries. The Con/Dem coalition of millionaires is certainly bring about the destruction of society, what will rise from the ashes of British society?

AT LAST

ann arky's home.

ATOS & DWP: THE GREEDY MUGGING THE SICK

       ATOS Healthcare are a part of a private, profit-driven corporation. On behalf of the government (DWP), they carry out the medical assessments now called the 'Work Capability Assessment' (WCA) for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA: formerly Incapacity Benefit) claimants, and the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

       They are currently recruiting more staff to help meet government targets to force more people off benefits. They plan to cut £2.5 billion from ESA and to limit ESA benefit to just one year will- presumably those who are deemed unable to work will have made a miraculous recovery. 

       These measures are pure cost cutting and not based on any medical opinion, nor have they got anything to do with the tiny level of fraud within the ESA/DLA budget. The government are doing this to reduce the massive national debt caused by the banks gambling on the financial markets. It is clearly the most vulnerable in society being made to pay for the greedy failures of the rich.

CONFUSED?

THEIR STORY DOESN'T ADD UP!

       Already some 75% of ESA claims are failing. People with severe disability and life-threatening conditions are being declared fit for work. It's seems obvious that the government are deliberately refusing many thousands of claimants the support they need and condemning the most vulnerable to even worse levels of poverty.

      ATOS examinations are also now being carried out by non-doctors. Most doctors are already woefully under-qualified to deal with mental health cases, but ATOS now employ physiotherapists and nurses who have less training than even a GP to examine people and give the opinions that will decide their fate. “The Jobcentre Plus Decision Makers do not in practice make decisions, but instead they typically ‘rubber stamp’ the advice provided through the ATOS assessment. They often do not have or do not appropriately consider additional evidence submitted to support a claim for [ESA]. This results in the ATOS assessment driving the whole process, rather than being seen in its proper context as part of the process.”, Professor Harrington.

        Is this an indication that they are having difficulty finding enough doctors that will compromise their ethics or just that they want to squeeze even more profit out the sick by hiring under-qualified people to tick boxes on a computer and contradict the diagnoses of specialists and practitioners that have a better knowledge of the cases?

       Studies have shown the medical test to be largely unreliable and of the 29% of refused claimants that appeal the decision 49% win. What about those who feel they can't face the appeal process? Which clearly indicates that a substantial number of claimants are being failed wrongly. ATOS Healthcare doctors are paid a fee of over £100 for each DLA medical they carry out. Many people report that the doctor seemed in a rush, stayed only a very short time and wasn’t interested in what they had to say. Some found the doctor positively rude.

       These distressing and anxiety inducing tests are being extended to those relying on Disability Living Allowance (now: Personal Independence Payments) in order to deny more of the genuinely needy essential assistance and cut the budget for DLA/PIP by 20%.

       The tests have already been strongly criticised by Citizens Advice Bureau, Child Poverty Action Group and others. "Doctors produce inaccurate reports... reporting incorrectly what the claimant has said about their own conditions and taking their answers out of context... Doctors pay more attention to the computer than the client."

       An independent review of the WCA tests by Professor Harrington concluded “There is strong evidence that the system can be impersonal and mechanistic, that the process lacks transparency and that a lack of communication between the various parties involved contributes to poor decision making and a high rate of appeals.” and that “evidence has consistently and regularly highlighted problems with each stage of the WCA process, which limit both the assessment’s fairness and effectiveness.”

        Citizens Advice Scotland is extremely concerned that many clients are being found fit for work in their WCA despite often having severe illnesses and/or disabilities.

Their evidence has highlighted the cases of many clients with serious health conditions who have been found fit for work, including those with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer, bipolar disorder, heart failure, strokes, severe depression, and agoraphobia.

       In a recent government report, ATOS’ own staff say the assessments are too harsh. Prospect, the trade union who represents 135 ATOS doctors, has stated that the target of seeing ten or more people a day is unrealistic and will lead to wrong assessments, especially in complex cases.

       Despite this obvious injustice, the government has recently announced it believes that 68% of ESA claimants can be sent back to work either immediately or with assistance. This is quite obviously a blatant lie designed to merely reduce the amount spent on society's most vulnerable.

       ATOS aren't content to be stitching up the needy at a tidy profit, but they are also undermining the NHS by paying way over the NHS rates for doctors & nurses.

      ATOS claim that they do not make the decision as to whether someone can work and have their benefits reduced, but that the decision is made by the DWP from their report and that performance targets are based simply on the number of claimants seen in a day. However, they admit that if a medical professional passes all claimants for disability benefits it will not go unnoticed.

WHO ARE THE REAL BENEFIT FRAUDSTERS ?

       Despite a fraud rate of just 1%, plus £16 billion in unclaimed benefits, they are determined to toss 500,000 people who currently rely on sickness benefits into the bleakest labour market in a generation; to cut already meagre disability benefits to starvation levels; to confiscate mobility scooters and community groups from the most needy; to remove key services that make life bearable for thousands of families with vulnerable relatives. With the recent changes in Housing Benefit and possible changes to Council Tax benefit, these cuts will leave hundreds of thousands of people with severe health problems without enough money to feed themselves and heat their homes.

PIMPING THE DISABLED

        ATOS also has a contract to carry out compulsory work programmes, meaning they will get paid for getting disabled people back into work. This is an incentive for them to fail people's claims: a clear conflict of interest. The most damning fact about the system is that ATOS will get £500m over 7 years for running the Work Capability Assessments, while fraud in ESA over this period would amount to around £250m: the tests intended to stop fraud cost twice as much as the fraud. Thus the only way ATOS can offer value for money is if they cut £250m off the ESA case load – which has to be their target.

        IF YOUR CLAIM FOR ESA OR DLA HAS BEEN FAILED YOU HAVE TO APPEAL WITHIN 30 DAYS. THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE YOU WILL WIN. SEEK ADVICE FROM WESTGAP or CAB IN LODGING YOUR APPEAL! CONTACT DETAILS... WEBSITE DOCUMENTS MORE INFO...

http://www.rethink.org/living_with_mental_illness/money_debt_benefits/index.html

SOLIDARITY.

 
ann arky's home.

REWARD THE THIEVES!!!

       As we struggle through our daily grind most seem not to be fully aware of the impact of the cuts being implemented by the public school millionaire thugs. Aware or unaware we can be sure the results will be somewhere between horrendous and apocalyptic, with the public sector employees taking the brunt of this assault, though all the ordinary people will feel the pain.

       All the debate on the media is about how to cut, where to cut and by how much to cut. Nobody is talking about cause, blame, pay-back. The so called “financial collapse”, was predictable and was caused by the greed of the financial centre as they blew a great big housing bubble and aided and abetted by government and bankers gorged on it until it burst. The rewarded themselves, by grabbing massive slices of the mortgage revenue in the form of absurdly large salaries, loan shark commissions and those stratospheric “performance bonuses”. When the pot went dry and their scam collapsed they simple held out the begging bowl and the government, with tax payers money, duly obliged. Groups of individuals were culpable and gained immensely from their greed, but who is being held to account? Nobody, it is expected that the ordinary individual will take the hit, so as to protect the lavish lifestyles of the perpetrators of this giant scam. The very fabric of our society will be shredded, unemployment will soar, what savings the ordinary person thought they had in the value of their home will drop dramatically. Meanwhile the financial Mafia will continue to laugh all the way to the bank. The ordinary people of this country did not cause the “collapse” (mess) they are the victims, but then again, this is capitalism, and that is the way that the system is meant to work. You work all your life, they live off your back. Get used to it, or change it forever.

ann arky's home.

FIT FOR WHAT???

Fit for What ?

       Under the previous Labour Government FIT Notes replaced Sick Notes in April 2010. The Coalition has continued to target “the sick”, leading to a huge backload of Appeals.

       The Medical Questionnaire for new ESA* claimants has been fine tweaked from the old one for longer term Incapacity cases, but the methods of conducting the interviews are the same. Dozens of claimants end up at Corunna House, in Cadogan St., near the old Anderston Bus Garage, and few are awarded enough points to be classed as either unfit for work or could be fit in future with help, altered hours etc..

     

       While filling out the Medical Questionnaire well, may help, the fact is that ATOS the agency contracted to conduct the interviews are paid on results. Like “bounty hunters” they aim to get people off benefits & often people are awarded Nil or few points despite their GP instigating hospital tests, often not even started when the ATOS “expert” makes their decision. ESA Claimants are reduced to basic benefit on Appeal, which for those on their own NI contributions, is ironically better than they were under Incapacity when Appeals led to only means-tested claimants being eligible, and at less than the basic rate.

The Old Divide & Rule.

       Now Ian Duncan-Smith, one of many Millionaires in the Cabinet, has new more draconian measures than even 'New Labour' brought in. At worst case a punter could face a 3 year ban from benefits. Although some will fall “foul” of this, most will be forced, as at present to comply and go through the motions of seeking work, placements, re-skilling, much of the time by dubious bodies like the Wise Group.

     

       21C Capitalism needs a “reserve army of labour” to keep wages in check , undermine terms & conditions, casualise contracts & drive expectations down. Above all these Rulers in Lab/Con/Lib, and in Scotland & Wales add , want this 'reserve army' - whether on the sick or signing on, or in limbo before retirement, caring for disabled or elderly, or in households where their partner is the only earner - to think individually, to internalise their anger, and not think of common cause.

      A small group of claimants, including former benefit advisors made redundant, have followed their counterparts in Edinburgh [2], and started to leaflet Corunna House. People coming in & out, often in poor health, a state of anxiety, angry or bewildered, are understandably pre-occupied with their own situation. It becomes every “man (or women) for themselves”, not quite “dog eats dog”, that is more akin to jobseekers at interviews, where hundreds chase every post.

     The point of such leafleting, and the more in depth approach by Edinburgh claimants[2], is to highlight to those who discuss what ATOS are doing, and their individual problems with benefits, that they are not alone. It takes a positive appreciation to grasp that you do what your Rulers least want: to self-organise, to adopt the wobbly[3] slogan, “an injury to one, is an injury to ALL”.

     The crap we, and our mates endure, in and out of work, will carry on until a real shake up changes our mindset to say: we are fit for a better future, we produce the wealth, plundered all over the world by corporations & Governments. Those occupying banks & showrooms of Vodafone etc., have shown the way. We will feel better, no matter what burden we are carrying, if we help create an alternative to this system, from the ground up [4], a big society to overturn all elites!

     Key:    [1] Employment & Support Allowance;

                [2] Edinburgh Coalition v Poverty: 0131 557 6242 on Tuesdays 12-3pm , Email ecap@lists.riseup.net     http://www.edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk/ ;

                [3] Wobbles are rebel workers, opposed to wage slavery, influenced by the Industrial Workers of the World, which has a Clydeside branch*;

                [4] Byword of Westgap, a community resource and advice centre in Partick, not tied to Council plans or tied to the “expert” advisor mentality, contact 342-4343, Mon to Thursday 10-4.

                * Contact via my email hereandnowscot@email.com

                by Jim McFarlane -



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TEAPOT COLLECTIVE - INTRODUCTION TO ANARCHY, PAGE 3.

     

      Today we continue with the wonderful wee booklet, "Introduction to Anarchy" from the Teapot Collective. The recently posted pages 1 and 2 went down well, so read on.

        Page 3.

        At the moment we are all forced to surrender our independence, with no opt-out clause or exception to the “authorities”, And what kind of society has been created through this? One built on oppression based on gender, race, sexuality, species, nationality. Oppression based on class, with a whole section of society made dependent on dull, exploitive work. We're left with the false choice of voting in one bunch of lying scum or another, while the people with money and power remain untouched – landowners, directors of industry and finance, high ranking police and army chiefs, and the rich elite in general.

       According to our “democratic” system the problem is just with the policies of the political parties – every time one of them “fails” in government we're supposed to hope the next lot do better. Of course they rarely do. Even when a revolutionary party takes over, the names may change but power still stays with a small elite and everybody else get shat on. After all, we all know what great places the communist dictatorships of Eastern Europe were.

      So what hope is there for change? We can't just vote for it, and trying to act for ourselves can be difficult, ---

ann arky's home.

MORE ON DISABILITY BENEFITS.

Confused?

      

      With the millionaire cabal riding roughshod over the benefits system and with their grand plans to get practically all those on disability benefit, off benefit and back to work, it is important that those who will be affected should have as much information and support as possible. This shredding of the benefits system will be particularly worrying to those with physical/mental health problems, apart from the worry there is the problem of trying to find your way through the complicated and legal jargon in which the various forms are written. It is also important the those facing these examinations, never go alone, know what to do, how the points system works and what are their rights.

      It is with this in mind that this site is posting the following information. It is hoped that anyone reading this will circulate it as widely as possible. If you know of somebody who may be facing an examination or other benefit's problems, please direct them to this information or print out and give them a hard copy of relevant information.

      The following site has lots of information that will prove to be invaluable to those involved in this distressing situation.

http://www.rethink.org/living_with_mental_illness/money_debt_benefits/index.html

Also information that was posted recently on this site;
http://radicalglasgowblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/disability-benefit-cuts.html
 
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THE BIG SOCIETY???

         Before millionaire spiv Cameron's mystic vision of the “Big Society” (Oh Lord, not another Blair visionary ), we had libraries, we had swimming pools, we had nurseries, we had support groups for the vulnerable, we had the National Health Service and much more. It wasn't perfect by a long chalk but we had them and there was the possibility of improving matters, not any more. Now we have a “Big Society” bank, with assets of £200m to replace cuts of £5 billion and the “Big Society” bank will be lending out money at commercial rates. Wow, just think of the wonderful “Big Society” all that will produce. What the “Big Society” really means is a society based on everything being owned by big business and for those who can't afford the necessities of life there will be charities. These charities will be dependent on the good nature of our corporate capitalists “philanthropists”, who no doubt from time to time, to look good or to get a tax break or a contract, will donate some of their ill gotten, unearned wealth to those, so deserving poor. Is this the “Big Society” that you voted for? Is this how you see yourself, depending on some pompous parasite to drop you a few crumbs to see you through your hard times, which no doubt they will proclaim is really your own fault? Run to the ballot box and this is what you get, messianic Blair hell bent on a crusade of the brutal extermination of a people, or a mystic visionary millionaire Cameron, fawning to his millionaire friends.

     Where is our imagination, surely we can come up with a better plan than this devious smoke and mirrors of the “Big Society”. Do we need a bunch of millionaire parasites bleeding us dry as they suck up most of the wealth that we produce? Is deprivation and exploitation the only way we can think? We can create a society based on the needs of all those in that society, but we have to get rid of this gang of blood sucking parasites that sit with their grubby hands on the power levers manipulating everything to their personal benefit and to hell with the rest of you.

GLASGOW ANARCHISTS 1915???

      The photo below is of the Glasgow Anarchist Group from 1915. The photo is known to lots of anarchists but we are all stumped as to who they all are. We have some info but haven't had it properly verified and would dearly love to know who these people were. Though it is dated the 1st January there is not a glass on the table, all cups, saucers and cakes, love and cakes, the essential of any anarchist society. Does that tell us something about the group?

       

     The info we have at the moment is;

1. Molly Loyd, she married the guy to her left No 2.

2. Charles McPherson, lived in Harmony Row, Govan, worked in Fairfield Shipyard.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. Willie MacDougal, we know a good bit about him, see; HERE. 

      As for the rest we would love to receive any info on any of them, no matter how small the detail it could help to lead us to further info. Any further info on Molly and/or Charles would also be very gratefully received.

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ANARCHY IS FOR LOVERS.

In keeping with the spirit of Valentine's day and just to let the world know, we anarchists are nice guys, romantics at heart and that an anarchist society would be a great place to live and love.

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THEY KNOW WHO THEIR FRIENDS ARE!!!

       

        I’m not suggesting that handing bundles of money to political parties will buy you influence, but since millionaire spiv, Cameron, became leader of the Tory party the city gents have handed the party a little slush pot of £11.4m a year. A mere 10 City gents have very kindly given the Tory party £13.2m over the last five years. David Rowland, ex party treasurer, 40 years a tax exile, gave the party £4m+ over the last 4 years, while Stanley Fink, hedge fund spiv, gave approximately a more modest £2m. Fink, by the way, is now a peer. Mind you, I’m not saying ---

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SCHOOL CLOSURES - AGAIN!!!!

         In this system some things never change, that's why I keep repeating, workers know your history. Today we are facing school closures, among other things, and we are having government blaming councils and councils blaming government. To those who know their history it is as if  we had run the video back. It is a cycle that keeps comimg round, sometimes it is little attacks on the working class and sometimes, like now, it is savage, vicious and brutal attacks that decimate our conditions. Conditions that we, as a class, have fought long and hard to wrestle from this corrupt and unjust system. It seems that we never win them, we get them and the system continually tries to take them back to enhance the wealth of the parasites that run this country, the millionaire's club. We should know by now that we can't modify or reform the system for very long, it soon reverts to its, "grab everything for the corporate world" strategy. We have to destroy the greed system of capitalism, sending it to the dustbin of history and create a society founded on mutual aid. We can create a needs based society based on co-operation and sustainability that will see to the needs of all our people, a system free from the profit motive and free from the grip of the pampered shareholding parasites that at this moment in time is setting about destroying the future of our children and grandchildren,    

                                        

        To make the point about, these attacks being nothing new, the little cartoon is from a Glasgopw free sheet dated May 1996, but it could just as well have been drawn this week about today's events. Workers, know your history. Otherwise we will be able to use this little cartoon in 15 years time.

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THE FREE HEATHERINGTON

Lectures. Discussions. Workshops. Socials. Film showings

“The Alternative University”

Sunday 13th February.

4-7pm Kids Film Showing “Wall-E” Adults love it too! Followed by discussion on issues raised if the kids are up for it.

7-10pm Poetry Open Mic Read your own or your favourite poetry. Valentine's Day Theme. Love! If you've got a special person to dedicate a special poem to, bring along both! If, on the other hand, you're heart broken and 'hate the word as [you] hate hell', then bring along a poem worthy of such afflictions. If you have neither, just read it in a sensuous voice. :)

Monday 14th February.

12:30 – 2pm Lecture “The psychology of will: Experimental perspectives on free will and determinism” Dr Rob Jenkins. Senior lecturer in psychology.

2 – 4pm Workshop Knitting. For learners, improvers or those that want to click needles in company.

4 – 6pm Lecture “Medical Ethics”.

7-10pm Film Showing “V Day – until the violence stops” A movement against domestic violence.

9-11pm Pub Quiz Nuff said! (In downstairs space).

Tuesday 15th February.

11am-1pm Lecture “The nature of the universe” Physics/philosophy/epistemology.

1-2:30pm Film Showing and discussion “A politics of space” Urban planning and architecture.

4-6pm Discussion “The art of university maintenance” (Downstairs space).

5-7pm Panel discussion Ethical non monogamy, polyamory, open relationships.

Wednesday 16th February.

6:30-8:30pm Lecture “The ethics of Direct Action” Dr Ben Franks. Lecturer in Political and Social Philosophy.

6pm onwards Social Vegan pancake dinner.

Thursday 17th February.

12-2pm Lecture “Mad women and boys with Huzzas: Public protest in 18th Century Scotland” Dr Rosi Carr. History lecturer at Sheffield University.

6-7pm Workshop “LGBT drawing class”.

Friday 18th February.

9pm Film showing “The Battle of Algiers”.

Saturday 19th February.

7:30pm Film showing and discussion “Occupation 101” Film about the occupation of Palestine.

Sunday 20th February.

3:30-7pm Discussion and film showing “Anarcho-curiosity shoppe” Noam Chomsky film plus introduction and discussion about Anarchism, libertarianism and anti authoritarianism at large.

The Free Hetherington, 13 University Gardens.

All events upstairs unless stated otherwise.

New events being organised daily. Please see website for up to date details and to join our announcements email list.     http://freehetherington.wordpress.com

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