On My Knees.

 

       Another beautiful day, took the dream machine round familiar territory, Milton of Campsie area, birth place of Thomas Muir, so that marks it out as somewhere special. The house he grow up in, still stands, it is not far from Milton of Campsie, at Huntershill, just outside Bishopbriggs. However, it is not just Thomas Muir that makes this place stand out in my mind, It was on the main road in Milton of Campsie that I was cycling along approaching a junction, a car was coming the other way and indicated he was turning right, across my path. Although I knew I had right of way, but I don't trust motorists, I eased off to see what he would do, he stopped, so I went on, he then changed his mind and tried to get round in front of me. The result was that I hit his back door, rolled over the roof of his car and slide down over his boot and landed on my knees behind the car. It was my old steel framed bike, so no damage there, but one of my knees was rather swollen, so it was off the bike for a few weeks. He did give me a lift home, ah, the camaraderie of the open road open road.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Surveillance Society, Big Brother, Alive And Well.

           A science fiction story, imagine if law enforcement organisations could with one fell swoop, gather up all the data on 10,000 mobile phones in one area, all at once, without any phone user knowing a thing about it. All your text, photos, emails, notes, contacts, personal details, the lot, while you sit at your desk, sip your coffee, travel to and from your work. Silently, invisibly, pouring all your personal stuff into a law enforcement data centre, to be pried over by faceless bureaucrats.  

 

       Sadly it is not a science fiction story, it is called "Stingray" and it is happening here and now, and no law enforcement organisation will talk about it, why? The ever increasing surveillance society, the prying eyes of the state looking ever deeper into our personal lives, with no hint of discussion, all are guilty in the piercing vision of the state. So, right now, who knows all your personal details, who is scrutinising all your contacts, what unknown shadowy smutty mind, is making inferences on your texts? You have a right to know, you are being denied that right.

This from Open Media:

      Governments around the world are using highly secretive technologies to spy on our cell phones — spying devices that are capable of listening to your calls and sucking up every single piece of sensitive, personal information in your phone.¹

       These invasive devices are called “Stingrays”, and they trick your cell phones into giving away your most sensitive information – without your consent.

       It’s time to put a stop to this. Take a stand today: Demand safeguards to protect us from Stingray surveillance. If enough of us speak up, decision-makers will be forced to listen.

Stingrays can’t be targeted at just one person — instead they sweep up data from entire neighbourhoods.² They’re being used to eavesdrop on innocent individuals, and can capture the sensitive data of up to 10,000 people at a time.³ You don’t have to do anything wrong to be a victim. And if you have been spied on, you won’t even know.

       What’s worse: Law enforcement is keeping the use of this irresponsible tool under a veil of secrecy. Despite evidence that suggests their prevalent use, countries like Australia, the U.K,. and Canada are refusing to even acknowledge their existence — making it impossible to hold an informed debate.⁴

       But the use of Stingrays by police forces around the globe is slowly being revealed. In the U.S., the NYPD recently admitted it has used Stingrays over 1000 times.⁵ We know they’re also being used in other countries including France, Germany, and Australia.^6,7,8

        Experts are challenging this new bulk surveillance and adding your voice will give them the leverage they need to succeed — will you speak up right now, and help us put a stop to Stingray surveillance?

We can’t afford to wait until Stingray use is too widespread to stop. We have to act now.

       Stingrays have been under the radar for too long. It’s time for us to speak out and demand decision-makers put a stop to irresponsible Stingray surveillance.

Thank you for speaking up for our digital privacy,

Laura, on behalf of your OpenMedia team

     P.S. We need your help to ensure that law-makers act quickly, by showing that we have a groundswell of support to make action happen. Will you take action NOW?

Footnotes

[1] What is a Stingray and why should I care? Source: OpenMedia
[2],[3] The Secret Surveillance Catalogue. Source: The Intercept
[4] Phone Hackers: Britain's Secret Surveillance. Source: Vice
[5] NYPD has used Stingrays more than 1,000 times since 2008. Source: NYCLU
[6] France has adopted in July 2015 the possibility for the intelligence services to use IMSI Catchers with a very weak oversight. Source: Re/code
[7] Behind the curve: When will the UK stop pretending IMSI catchers don't exist? Source: Privacy International.
[8] Special investigation: Bugged, tracked, hacked. Source: Channel 9

More on Stingray HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
 

Amateur And Professional Terrorists.

          We live in a world of terrorists, the religious fanatics who feel the need to kill, to prove how wonderful their religion is, how great their god, they kill hundreds indiscriminately, while praising their god. Then there is the professional terrorist, the states, who bomb into destruction entire countries, killing countless millions in the process, spreading terror across land after land. At the same time creating breeding grounds for the for the religious fanatic to recruit and win over more suicide maniacs. What links these two groups is the fact that will kill indiscriminately for an idea, they will kill innocent people who are in no way involved in the terrorist process. People who just happen to be in their line of fire. 

         There is no terrorist organisation on earth or has there ever been one, that could compete with, let alone out do, the countless deaths and massive destruction of the nation state. Today we are witness to almost the entire Middle East in a quagmire if blood, death and destruction, we have seen countries with modern infrastructure reduced to rubble, with the victims numbering in the millions, and the vast majority of those killed have been killed by the various states. From Afghanistan to Iraq, from Libya to Syria, the accolade for the highest number of deaths and greatest destruction goes, unchallenged, to the Western states. Only an idiot would say that the West only carried out these blood soaked actions with the welfare of the people of the Middle East in mind. They done it for their own self centred ideology, just like the religious nutters.

 This from Act For Freedom Now:

        And then there is the massive deployment of the military and police in the streets, who feel the need to give us a demonstration of the extra power that the State has bestowed on them. And the famous “national unity” evoked a few days after the attacks. The enemy of revolutionaries, those who want to get rid of the State, not see it opportunely strengthened in this context. That which attracts crowds to come and meditate on these places of death singing the Marseillaise draped in French flags and shouting “Long live France, long live the Republic.” Crowds that speak of freedom, as if we had been free before this tragedy. Which in a way is accepting the state of emergency, saying that it is the god-crazed who took away our freedom, thus completely clearing the State, finding excuses for it. The same national unity that leads to accepting the grip of the State over our lives, is also that which brings together religious leaders, while they are the ones, whoever they are, that nourish fanaticism, even when they say they are moderates.
       What both sides want is for us to live in fear, that we cease to be alive, change our habits, resign ourselves to staying quietly at home without raising any criticism. But we won’t accept the terror that they are forcing on us. This silence of death that they want to reign. And we will never accept the alternatives that States, which are capable of all the terror that we know them to be, offer us, often brandishing it “anti-terrorist”.
So, to the salt of our tears, we add the spice of our passion for life, and our desire for revolt.
They will never make us give up.
Let’s live and rebel, against all power!
Neither religion, nor nationalism!

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

How To Survive Prison.

        The following recording has been made by the Anarchist Group Dortmund (in cooperation with A-Radio Berlin) during a presentation on March 6, 2016. In it the former anarchist prisoner from Belarus Mikalai Dziadok shares his prison experiences and gives some advice on how to survive the jail.
Total helplessness, psychological pressure, stupid convicts‘ laws, ever-lasting prison terms – this is what Belarusian prison is made of.

There Are Men Too Gentle---

There Are Men Too Gentle To Live Among Wolves. 

There are men too gentle to live among wolves

Who prey upon them with IBM eyes

And sell their hearts and guts for Martinis at noon.

There are men too gentle for a savage world

Who dream instead of snow and children and Halloween

And wonder if the leaves will change their color soon.

There are men too gentle to live among wolves

Who anoint them for burial with greedy claws

And murder them for a merchant's profit and gain.

There are men too gentle for a corporate world

Who dream instead of candied apples and ferris wheels

And pause to hear the distant whistle of a train.

There are men too gentle to live among wolves

Who devour them with eager appetite and search

For other men to prey upon and suck their childhood dry.

There are men too gentle for an accountants world

Who dream instead of Easter eggs and fragrant grass

And search for beauty in the mystery of the sky.

There are men too gentle to live among wolves

Who toss them like a lost and wounded dove.

Such gentle men are lonely in a merchants world

Unless they have a gentle one to love.

James Kavanaugh.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

A Get-Together.

From Tarcoteca, mark your diaries, in advance: 

         The Tenth Congress of the International of Anarchists Federation (IAF) will be held from 4 to 7 August 2016 (Thursday to Sunday), in Frankfurt, Germany.
         The last congress of the IFA was held during the International anarchist Gathering in St-Imier (Switzerland) in 2012. This Gathering, initiated by the Anarchist Federation (FA), the Libertarian Federation of Mountains (FLM) and Espace Noir (St-Imier) had brought together thousands of anarchists around the world for discussions, concerts, films, exhibitions, workshops, round tables, etc.
         The success of the event is due to the strong investment of members of the Anarchist Federation, Libertarian Federation of Mountains (FLM) and Espace Noir (St-Imier) but also the involvement of the International of Anarchist Federations (IAF) and the Anarkismo network. This involvement has allowed all the "families" of anarchism are represented. Delegations came from all continents.
        These meetings provided to structure knowledge networks and solidarity. They have given rise to various projects.
Following this Gathering, the International of Anarchist Federations (IAF) participated, supported and / or initiated Mediterranean anarchists Gathering (Tunisia, Greece), Balkan anarchist Meeting (Greece, Slovenia), the Meeting of the anarchists radios (Slovenia , Germany), etc.

Read the full article HERE:

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Political Art.

A couple of informative images from arrezafe.

Allow me to introduce myself, I'm not the devil, I'm capitalism.

An image that could be used in any country.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

Squatters Action, SLAP.

[UK] SLAP! Squatters of London Action Paper Issue 3

 Click HERE for issues 1 and 2.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

News From Glasgow And Edinburgh.

         Dates for your diary, whether you are in Glasgow or Edinburgh, or perhaps even both, they are not that far apart.

EDINBURGH:

NEWS FROM EDINBURGH COALITION AGAINST POVERTY

ECAP MONTHLY MEETING THIS MON 28th
7pm at ACE
All welcome
Would be great to have a good turn-out to build on recent successes such as the High Riggs solidarity demo and the public meeting with Boycott Workfare
(ECAP meetings are the last Monday of each month, except December)

FRONT-LINE ADVOCACY STALL HIGH RIGGS THIS THURS 31st
10am – 11.30am thurs 31st High Riggs Jobcentre, by Tollcross Leafleting and taking up claimants cases – all welcome, no experience advice-giving needed as there will be people there with experience…

GLASGOW:

ACTION AGAINST AUSTERITY CONFERENCE
SUN 3rd APRIL IN GLASGOW
11am – 5pm Fred Paton Centre,19 Carrington Street, Glasgow, G4 9AJ
https://www.facebook.com/events/693873240754285/
The successful High Riggs solidarity demo on 14th March showed the importance of Scotland-wide links, this conference aims to develop co-ordinated grass-roots action against austerity.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Army Without A Uniform.

         War is universal, it is the life blood of modern capitalism. It is not just the uniforms that carry out the destruction, it is all the research centres, manufacturing centres, logistics and transportation companies that back them up and make war possible. The nice guy that works in the arms industry office, the driver of a transport company that carries the weapons to their destination, the researcher that is working on new weapons systems, they all go home to family and friends, but they should be obliged to wear a uniform. They are an integral part of the imperialist war machine, without them no war would be possible.    

         We destroy cities, and whole countries, then hand out contracts to multinational companies to re-build the infrastructure, all part and parcel of the merry-go-round of the imperialist war machine. How much of this system's time, energy and resources are wasted in this vicious circle of destruction and rebuild? No matter how much, the destruction and waste of life and resources will continue, as long as we accept the society that capitalism forces on us. It will continue as long as we see war as only a thing in uniform, we have to realise that war is dependent on an army of participants not in uniform, they are the core of the war machine.

         As I said, war is universal, this is a call for solidarity from Italy:

AGAINST THE WAR IN LIBYA
LET’S JAM THE WAR MACHINE

       War is no longer declared: it is simply there. Since 1991 the Italian State has been at war with its troops deployed in over 20 countries and its participation in all the most prominent ‘international missions’.
         Renzi’s government is now getting ready to attack Libya with the purpose of lining up the army in defence of ENI oilfields and gas pipes.
         As this wasn’t enough, the Italian State will soon go back to Iraq with a contingent of about 500 soldiers, who will oversee work on the Mosul dam to be undertaken by the construction company Trevi from Cesena.
          War has always been used by the States and the ruling classes in order to affirm their own interests. From resources grabbing to the availability of low cost workforce, war is the oxygen of any business.
          Not only: war is a business itself, as it secures huge profits to the bosses of the arms industry – first of all the State’s giant Finmeccanica – and to speculators who distribute ‘reconstruction’ contracts between themselves, not to mention the bosses of the logistics necessary to military manoeuvres.
         While the bosses feast at the expense of the whole world, we also see war here close to us, under the form of hunted humankind: millions of refugees are crowding on the external borders of the very States that have bombarded them; but they are faced with kilometres of walls, barbed wire, iron, internment camps and troops watching them. Borders which had apparently disappeared are becoming material again.
         On this side of the border people are being made to live in the terror that war can bounce back in the form of indiscriminate attacks. Zones of dissent are being restricted, life conditions are worsening and cities are being militarized. All this is being achieved amidst the tacit consent of anyone who doesn’t oppose resistance to these choices.
           But we can find the responsible of the horror also here close to us. In fact it is not only the military that make war. They need others to support them in their doings: companies that produce arms, universities that develop technology and intervention strategies, commercial carriers for the logistical transport of arms and soldiers.
        An armoured vehicle that is not boarded on a ship can’t go and shoot oversea; a bomb that is not carried outside a factory can’t be dropped on a Libyan or Syrian village. For these reasons Moby Lines, Tirrenia, FS Logistica, Saima Avandero, Ter Roma and many others are complicit in the war. FS Logistica earns over 10 million euros per year from the railway transport of military vehicles. Moby Lines transports RVM bombs from Sardinia to the Continent in order for them to reach war scenarios.
       Therefore it is necessary to act against war logistics, the imminent attack on Libya and all the accomplices of militarism. For this reason we call on all the enemies of the war machine for mobilization from 28th March to 2nd April, with actions of disruption and opposition against those who send instruments and supplies to the front, according to each one’s desires and possibilities.
     We call for demonstrations to take place in as many cities as possible on 2nd April, in squares, outside universities, research centres and war businesses.
       Because we respond to the war between the states and the peoples with social war, for the destruction of all borders and all forms of exploitation made by human beings on other human beings and nature.

Anarchists and antimilitarists

Translated by act for freedom now!

via:www.informa-azione.info/

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The World's Wanderers.

        Imaginary lines drawn by power mongers and bandits, cross them and you could be an illegal immigrant, all your rights disappear, you risk being locked up, and deported with complete indifference and without dignity. We have no control over where we are born, and it appears we have no control over where we live.

[…] what are you? […] You are not of this castle, you are not of this village, you are nothing. But you are something too, unfortunately, you are a foreigner, someone that is always inopportune and in the way, one that brings a lot of troubles, […] whose intentions no one knows.

F. Kafka

From To The Wanderers:

       The democratic mechanism of citizenship and rights, however much expanded, will always presuppose the existence of excluded people. To criticize and try to prevent expulsions means to realize a critique in action of racism and nationalism; it means to seek a common space for revolt against the capitalistic uprooting that involves us all; it means to obstruct a repressive mechanism that is as hateful as it is important; it means to break the silence and indifference of the civilized who stand by watching; it means finally to confront the concept of law itself on the basis of the principle “we are all illegal aliens”. In short, it means an attack against one of the pillars of the state and class society: the competition between the poor people, the substitution, nowadays more and more menacing, of ethnic or religious wars for social war.

Read the full article HERE:

 

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Israel Has Poisoned The World.

           Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy talks to journalist Max Blumenthal about how the Israeli occupation has poisoned not only the region but much of the world, and how BDS might be the last standing hope to dismantle it

Published on Mar 22, 2016

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