The Ochestrated Genocide Of The Palestinian People By The Israeli State.

          The Israeli State is a non-state, it is the Western imperialist's policeman in the Middle East. It was created by the West to gratify the whim of a handful of Zionist fundamentalists. Like all policemen, they get out of control, and now that policeman is hell bent on the genocide of the Palestinian people and the seizure of their lands. A glance at the changing map of Palestine over the years is irrefutable proof of this cruel and bloody land grab. Apart from the theft of their land by the Zionist state of Israel, the Palestinian people have to contend with bombings, tanks, and aircraft bombardment, they continually face harassment and imprisonment backed up with torture, on a daily basis. This treatment is inflicted on every family of the Palestinian people living in that area.

       The following article from 325, is a letter of support from anarchist prisoners in Korydallos Prison in Athens, Greece, to the Palestinian hunger strikers.

      The struggles of the Palestinian political prisoners are directly and inextricably connected with the overall struggle of the Palestinian people. 70 percent of the Palestinian families have at least one member that has been imprisoned for action against the state of Israel. 20 percent of the total population has been imprisoned at least once in their life while according to other estimations 40 percent of the male population has been imprisoned at some point in their life within the past 30 years.

      Another revealing manifestation of the situation the Palestinian strugglers find themselves in while inside the Israeli prisons is the fact that until 1999 “mild torture” during interrogation was considered legitimate practice by law. These tortures included- among others – deprivation of sleep, immobilization in an uncomfortable body posture, loud music, exposure to extremely cold or hot
temperatures, placement of malodorous cloths over the face etc. In 1999 the supreme court of Israel upheld that in certain cases these practices were illegal and thus imposed some restrictions. These restrictions did not, however, rule out force-feeding as illegal in accordance with the UN provisions.

      On the 1st of May 2000 almost 1000 out of the 1650 Palestinian political prisoners participated in a large-scale hunger strike that lasted one month, demanding better living conditions, better treatment by the guards, family visits, abolition of the solitary confinement, access to healthcare and release of political prisoners. During the solidarity demonstrations seven Palestinians lost their lives while one thousand got injured. Meanwhile, sixty Israelis got injured, too. On the 31st of the same month the government of Israel satisfied some of the demands.

      In February 2012 around 1800 Palestinian political prisoners started a hunger strike against the regime of administrative detention. That is, incarceration without evidence to back a charge, without specific accusations, without trial and without sentence, meaning they would remain detained for an indefinite amount of time as ordered by the military authority of Israel. Out of the 4500 prisoners in total, 310 remained in prison under the status of administrative detention. Among their demands was the ability of those family members who resided in Gaza to be able to visit their relatives in prison- a fact that was impossible since, as residents of Gaza, they were not allowed by the state of Israel to leave Gaza-, the termination of solitary confinement and the release of those kept under administrative detention.

      On the 24th of May of the same year and after a several-day huger strike, the strugglers managed to strike a deal with the state of Israel, which pledged to bring the maximum duration of administrative detention down to 6 months if sufficient evidence were not provided in between. Moreover, the family visits expanded and those in solitary confinement returned to the regular blocks.

       Today, 1500 Palestinian political prisoners have been on hunger strike since the 17th of April and their number is expected to climb up to 200 within the following days. United in a single battlefront and despite their internal disputes and confrontations, members of Fatah, Hamas, PFLP and Islamic Jihadists participate in a common struggle as political prisoners.

       Their demands resemble those of the previous mobilizations and have to do with the prisoners’ access to telecommunication and the placement of payphones in every block, in particular. Also, they demand that they have visits from their relatives, who must get a permit to enter the occupied territories –applications for such permits are usually rejected and the visits are, in reality, impossible
since the prisons are located inside the occupied territories. Finally, they demand access to healthcare, the abolition of administrative detention and solitary confinement. The state of Israel has so far reacted with unannounced transfers of the prisoners and their placement in solitary confinement.

        We, as anarchist prisoners of the Greek prisons, can only join our voices with the voices of the Palestinian strugglers. Beside our straightforward and unconditional solidarity with the forces of resistance against the forces of imposition, with the forces of slings and knives against the forces of bombs and tanks, the forces of the oppressed against the forces of state brutality, the forces of the Palestinian people against the forces of the Israeli state, we also express that we have yet another reason to support every act of resistance against the state of Israel. The technology of surveillance, the apartheid know-how, the derogation regime, the interweaving of social and geographical marginalization, the imposition of militarized control upon whole populations, the administrative detention -which makes a come-back in Europe as a tool to manage migration- and the overall dystopian reality that the state of Israel imposes upon the people of Palestine constitute a compass for those in power as well as an experimentation that the rest of the states will eventually be called on to implement elsewhere.

Victory to the struggle of the Palestinian political prisoners

Victory to the arms of the Palestinian resistance
Andreas-Dimitris Bourzoukos,
Antonis Stamboulos,
Argiris Dalios,
Dimitris Politis,
Fivos Harisis,
Giannis Michailidis,
Giorgos Karagiannidis,
Grigoris Sarafoudis,
Tasos Theofilou

Korydallos Prison, Athens

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Cold, Wind, Rain And £2 Down.

 

       Today, Saturday, was not my type of cycling day, but cabin fever is a dreadful affliction. So, despite the forecast of 16mph cold wind and max. 10 degrees, I set off on my usual route. As I approached Auchenreoch I could see areas of sky that had white clouds, and the odd blue area, but not my patch, I felt a bit hard done by, above my head was low dark foreboding clouds, and that 16mph wind was cold, then to really upset me there started a smirl of light rain. So I cut it short, called it a day, and headed for Milton of Campsie, birth place of Thomas Muir. There to partake in the hospitality of their local café, though I must add, for the same soup, cake and coffee, it was £2 dearer than the Clachan of Campsie tearoom. Should have cycled the extra six or seven miles and saved a couple of quid, but alas, too late, I had ordered and eaten. 

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

Glasgow's May Day Picnic On The Green.

 

       Well here we are, Saturday 29th. May, on the eve of Glasgow's STUC sanitized and choreographed sedate May Day march through the city. Naturally it will not be on May Day as our political parties and trade unions usually avoid celebrating on that particular day, so as not to disturb the consumer process. This year by a drastic blunder, in the plans of the STUC, their slow trudge through the city will start at George Square, 11:30am but because they failed to book a suitable venue in time, it will end up, against their better wishes, in the open air, at the bandstand in Kelvingrove Park. However there is a group of Glasgow's fair citizens who feel that May Day should always be celebrated on May Day and in the open-air, in a free come as you please, friendly fashion. So to that end there will be a May Day Picnic, on The Green, on Monday, May 1st. May Day. It should kick off at around 2pm, so bring what you expect to find, and enjoy songs, music, poetry and friendly chat. May Day on the Green, by the people, for the people, free from our political messiahs, and their vacuous promises to lead us to the promised land.

Glasgow's May Day Picnic on The Green, 

Monday May 1st. 2pm.

at the east end of the Green, 

along from Templeton's factory, 

next to Free Wheel North 

See you all there.

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

9 Degrees, But Still Wonderful.

      Yesterday, 26th. saw my first run out on the bike since returning from Athens, unfortunately I came back from Athens with a lousy cough, so the bike runs were postponed. My first run was the familiar territory of the Campsie area, it was really a bit too cold for my creaking bronchial system, 9 degrees, but I loved it, and had a wonderful run, great to feel the pedals turning again. 

       Wheelcraft is a well known bike shop in Clachan of Campsie, frequented by cyclist from a wide area. Big Al, who runs the place is credited with being the best wheel builder in Scotland, if not the UK. The racing fraternity, and other cyclists, pop in to see him as he always has a pot of coffee standing by for all and sundry, while he usually sits with a wheel spinning in front of him. The pater is always about how long a distance they have covered or how fast they covered it.

      Along the road a bit from Big Al's there is what used to be part of a working farm, the farm is still there, but part of it has become an overpriced bundle of bricks in front of which people park rather expensive cars.

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

There Will Come A Time---

         A corrupt government, so what's new, across this ailing planet, people are governed by despot dictators, moronic monarchs, unbalanced and  irrational presidents, and corrupt governments, that is the norm. This results in misery, poverty, repression and endless wars, for the ordinary people, so that these degenerate cabals can hold onto their wealth, power, unearned and undeserved privileges. When will the fury of the people erupt, when will that subservience explode, tearing apart these edifices of exploitation and corruption? For how much longer will we hand this legacy to our grandchildren. Are we going to continue to wait for that legion of Messiahs to come along and rub some soothing balm on our chains, and then be forever grateful? Shelley said it, "Ye are many, they are few", we are governed by consent, that governing is killing us, we can withdraw our consent. Thanks for the link Loam.

There Will Come a Time

There will come a time when the hordes remember,

who bound our grand-parents to the yoke of oppression,

who sentenced our parents to deprivation,

who bid poverty sink its teeth into our heart,

who teach our children, greed is a noble art.

Who sent our sons through the gates of hell

to a litany of cambist brawls,

crammed coffers with blood-stained gold

while laughing in Ares’ halls.

“Who does these terrible things to us?” they will ask,

and when they remember,

they’ll bring an energy that is endless

to drive a fist that is fearless.

Then this merciless market-driven world will crumble

under an insurrection of integrity,

the poor will emerge from the dark husk of capitalism

to live in the light of social justice.

There will come a time when the hordes remember.

If not now, when, if not us, who? 

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Spreading The Word.

       The latest issue of Fifth Estate, North America's longest running Anarchist Newspaper is now available. Great to see longevity in an anarchist printed word, 50+ years of permeating the public mind with anarchist ideas and actions. How many of those issues are still around and still being read, still influencing? We at Spirit of Revolt have a back collection of Fifth Estate and are in the process of scanning them to make them easily available to read on our website, they should appear in the next month or so. Well that's the plan.

       The most recent issue of Fifth Estate — North America’s longest running anarchist publication — is out now. Issue #398 features the usual mix of articles, reviews, and announcements. The issue is themed “Revolutions, Riots, & Rebellions”. Consider a subscribing to support Fifth Estate’s 50+ years of publishing.

The contents of this issue:

• Seattle Shooting – CP & SM
• A Fascist by Any Other Name – Bill Weinberg
• The Struggle to Get Back to Zero – Peter Werbe
• Veil of the Vile – Jesús Sepúlveda
• Eat Your President – The Mormyrids
• The Russian Revolution Unfinished – SK
• Detroit Rebellion 1967 – Frank Joyce
• Can Vies Squat Defended – Scorsby and Celíaco
• Support Cleveland 4 – Amanda Schemkes
• Revolted Art Exhibit
• Anarchism & Social Security -Eric Laursen
• This is Biomorph – Fiction – Gary Ives
• Music & Revolution -Luis Chávez
• Body Cams & Surveillance – Mateo Pimente
• Virtuality & Sociopathy – Bryan Tucker
• A Busker’s Adventure – Bill Blank
• Surrealism on the Barricades – Ron Sakolsky
• Real Humans – Review – Mélusine Vertelune
• Not Your Negro – Review – Peter Werbe
• Anarchist History – Review – F.O.F.
• Texas Anti-Prison Conference
• Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist – Marius Mason
• Emma Goldman Film – Review – Bill Meyer
• Prison News
• Robb Johnson Box Set – David Rovics

More information can be found at https://www.fifthestate.org

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

Them And Us.

 

        Language is a tool, poetry is a weapon, it can be a powerful weapon that can stab the heart, open a mind, explode a myth, ram home the truth.

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Australia, The Good Life!!!

 

       Australia is a country that we don't hear much about in our neck of the woods, unless of course you're into cricket and/or rugby. For most people here in the UK, there is this perception of Australia as a sunny land with the good life. However, Australia is a capitalist country and so comes with all the usual capitalist baggage, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, inequality and discrimination.

        Australia has a population of approximately 24.5 million, and they don't all live the good life. The people of that country are going through the same "austerity" treatment that we are going through, with much the same results, increase in poverty and homelessness. Australia's "middle class" is shrinking and over the last decade, the bottom 5% of income earners have become poorer. Sound familiar? The Australian headline poverty rate in 2014 was 13.3 percent, or 2.99 million people up from 11.8 percent in 2003-04, while children in poverty in one-parent families, rose from 36.8 percent in 2012 to 40.6 percent in 2014. Same old capitalist story.

        According to the The Australian Council of Social Service report 2016,  In international perspective, Australia’s poverty rate remains above the OECD average, despite the country's relative prosperity. Ah well, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.

         It is not just in poverty and homelessness that Australia follows the capitalist mode of society, it is also in discrimination. Australian Indigenous people are at the receiving end of a brutal discrimination. In 2000, life expectancy of Indigenous Australians was some 20 years below that of other Australians. All the socio-economic indicators such as income, employment, housing, education and health show considerable disparities between Australia's Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. In fact, Australian Indigenous poverty ranks alongside countries as poor as Bangladesh where absolute poverty is real.

 From FTP No. 8.

        However, Australians, like people across the globe, don't all sit and take this savage exploitation with complete subservience, they fight back. If you are interested in finding out about some of that fighting back then the zine FTP is worth a read and No. 8 is now available. FTP is a “bi-annual report on indigenous, ecological & anti-capitalist resistance in the occupied territory known as Australia.” As such, this zine features a wide-range of actions compiled from communiques and news reports. There are a lot of photos interspersed with the text, making this a great way to learn about what is happening in Australia. I'm all in favour of our ideas and actions finding their way onto print and being circulated, the printed word finds its way into places the internet can't.

Download free readable PDF HERE:

 

Download free printable version HERE:

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

The Anarcho Tourist Review.

 

         The March issue of The Anarcho Tourist Review Is available as a PDF free download HERE:

        Well worth a wee read, here is the introduction and contents:

Introductory notes
         Clearly we are living in critical times. Even from abroad, it’s clear to see that the election of Trump, coming as it does in the epicenter of Imperial power, signifies that we are at a major historical turning point. One might even say that the post-modern era is ending. All the beliefs and practices that we once presumed normal are dissolving and giving way to a social outlook that may previously have been dismissed as irrelevant.
        For one, Trump’s victory totally stunned an impotent post-modern Left, but it did not really surprise any of us. To be honest, those who predicted otherwise were shocked, first and foremost, only with how out of touch they were with social reality. This is the first time in recent memory that a Western superpower has elected a head of state that represents such a clear departure from the politics of ‘business as usual’, even though this new direction is doubtlessly towards something quite foreboding. What is now undeniable is that, rather than going with a more conventional option, people are evidently calling for something much crazier.

         On top of this, the rise of Trump is only one of the many symptoms of an era that seems to be defined, more than ever, by the slow-motion collapse of civilization in general. The wars are becoming ever more widespread and violent, environmental disasters multiply whilst the fish are disappearing from the oceans, and, in combination with protests that are growing ever more violent, there is ever less hope of society and its Left gaining a few more years of peace with its hypocrisy and pacifism. As things descend into chaos, leftists present themselves as skilled strategists by telling people to peacefully vote in (generally rigged) elections for thirdplace parties…
         We can only hope that now the mask is off the illusions of easy solutions will also disappear. There are no more charismatic candidates to delicately conceal the dystopia that we were already living in anyway. The state and society have taken further steps toward totalitarianism shedding their few remaining inhibitions along the way. In such times the only honorable response to the state and its class of rulers can be resistance. Those invested in the existence of the state can plead patience if they want but the ultima ratio of princes and peoples is sorting from its long slumber: popular uprising is the only solution to today’s problems, the only way to end this depraved and crumbling oligarchy.
        Meanwhile, with attention switching to the core capitalist states Greece seems to have drifted back to the periphery of interest. For some Leftists, the situation is an embarrassment best not mentioned. By this point few are paying attention to the latest re-run of negotiations, the government’s stage managed heroic resistance is just as boring as the next inevitable honest compromise is spineless. Those who do glance at Greece after two years of Syriza see a population demoralized, disorientated and demobilized. The great humanitarians have become the prison guards of Europe while large layers of society get ever poorer. They have done nothing but pave the way for the restoration of the old regime which waits excitedly in the wings.
       However, we do not have to look far for a response to this bleak picture. We see it in the honest defiance of the political prisoners, the barricades of Exarcheia, continued resistance to austerity, and the everyday humanity and solidarity which contrasts with the government’s hypocrisy. These call us to rethink, regather our strength and continue along the difficult path of struggle that lies ahead. In these difficult times, let’s focus on pluralism, respectful disagreements, and positive acts. With that being said let’s go on . . .

 Contents:

A Tale of Two Cities: Paris and Athens

A Semi-Concrete Organizing Proposal

Anti-Capitalist Tactical Spectrum

A Parliamentary Dead End

An Anarchist Affection for Democracy

The Return of  Nation-State

The Conspiracy theory

Some theses on Neo-Fascism

Orchomenos

Anarcho Tourist Reviews

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A Fatal Malaise Of A Civilisation.

 

 

        My previous post was in response to the coming UK general election, but this farce, this charade, this competition of liars, is not confined to the UK, it is a world wide illusion, a disease of humanity, a disaster of gigantic proportions, that is rapidly destroying our planet. We recently had "an election" that put a narcissistic unstable moron on the throne of the most powerful imperialist power on Earth. While waiting for the stage production from the UK theatre of lies, we are having the French presidential election spewed over us. None of these events have any possibility of solving the problems we face as a civilisation, all are concerned with the control of power in their personal fiefdoms. All they do is gratify a few messiahs and aggravate the problem that we as a civilisation are now facing.

      The following is from an interview first translated by Ill Wind Editions:

By the way, the book, "The Coming Insurrection" if you haven't yet read it, is well worth getting your hands on.

         Editor’s note:   The trial of Julien Coupat and Mathieu Burnel, known as the “Tarnac affair”, has dragged-on for over eight years now. On the 10^th of January, the Court of Appeals deemed that it was no longer to be classified as a terrorism case. Assumed by many to belong to the Invisible Committee—whose first opus, The Coming Insurrection (2007), was a resounding success—they here take a critical look at the presidential campaign. Their newest book, Maintenant [Now], is due to hit the shelves next week.
***
         Le Monde: What do you make of the presidential campaign?
What campaign? There was no campaign. There was a soap opera, a fairly worn-out one at that, to tell the truth, full of twists and turns, scandals, dramatic tension and suspense. Much brouhaha, a tiny frenzy, but nothing that managed to pierce the wall of generalized confusion. Not that there is any lack of followers for each candidate, tossing-about with varying degrees of fanaticism in their virtual bubbles. But this fanaticism only deepens the feeling of political unreality.
        A graffiti that went up in Place de la Nation during the Mayday demonstration last year stated: "There will be no presidential election”. It suffices to project ourselves ahead to the day after the final round of the election to grasp what’s prophetic in this tag: whatever happens, the new president will be as much a puppet as the current one, the legitimacy of their governance will be just as lacking, just as minoritarian and impotent. This fact isn’t solely due to the extreme withering of politics—to the fact that it has become impossible to believe honestly in all that is done and said there—but is likewise due to the fact that politics is a derisory means of confronting the depth of the current disaster.
        What can politics and its proclamatory universe do when confronted by the concomitant collapse of ecosystems and subjectivities, of the wage society and the global geopolitical order, the meaning of life and the meaning of words? Nothing. It only adds to the disaster. There is no "solution” to the disaster we’re going through. To think in terms of problems and solutions is only one more aspect of this disaster, a way of safeguarding us from any serious questioning. What’s called into question by the current state of the world is not merely a political system or a certain form of social organization but a whole civilization, that is to say, ourselves, our ways of living, of being, of relating and thinking.
        The buffoons who mount their platforms to boast of the “solutions” they’ll be strong enough to enact once elected are only pandering to our need for illusion, our need to believe that some kind of decisive change exists that would spare us, and spare us above all from the need to fight. All the “revolutions” that they promise us are only there so that we may avoid changing who we are, to relieve us of any physical or existential risk. They’re candidates for the deepening of the catastrophe. Seen in this light, it would seem that for some people the need for illusion is virtually insatiable.------

Continue reading HERE:

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The Ever Tightening Grip Of The State.

          As the states across the West, and elsewhere, turn sharply to the right, we will see from them, a more brutal response to dissent, dissent in any form. Harsher sentences, shifting to minor offences being dressed up as serious offences, large sweeping arrests, and catch-all charges. The charade of "due process" will evaporate as guilt by association will become the norm. Most states stand up and spout about their adherence to the "letter of the law", the only problem with that is they keep shifting and changing those "letters" to their advantage. They make the laws, so they are always on the right side of "the law", to protect and enhance their grip on power.
      This happens under all manner of guises, subtly, by small unannounced degrees, under the cover-all banner of state security, "anti-terrorist" legislation, or the ever increasing "state of emergency". Procedures introduced under these banners are seldom, if ever, relinquished, they are kept on the state's agenda for further use, and in most cases, become common practice.
       The following article refers to America, but can equally apply to almost any state, for example, France's now year long "state of emergency", Turkey's new massively increased powers to the President, Italy and Spain's sweeping up of anarchists. They are all at it, as dissent rises, so does the harshness of the state, eventually we see the raw power and authority of the state institution. Don't expect the babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media to get all hot and bother about this ever diminishing rights of the citizen, they are there to protect the established power structure, and no matter what, will continue to spew out their usual illusions, sweared with bubble-gum and popcorn crap.

        "It's crazy, a few windows got smashed," 23-year-old Olivia Alsip said, two months after her arrest on felony riot charges. "Why are 214 people looking at ten years in prison?"
      Alsip only knew one other person at the protest march that day. The political science graduate student from the University of Chicago had met her partner in November, when the two had joined the camps at Standing Rock opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline. When they heard about calls to protest Donald J. Trump's inauguration in D.C. on January 20th under the banner "Disrupt J20," they felt they had to be there. "I identify as an anarchist, and I've been an activist for women's and queer rights since the 8th grade," Alsip told me over the phone from Chicago.
      Alsip is among 214 defendants facing felony riot charges, up to a decade in prison and a $25,000 fine for their participation in the anti-capitalist, anti-fascist march, which ended with a mass arrest on the morning of Inauguration Day. As far as the student understands, the evidence against her amounts to little more than proof of her presence at the unruly protest, as indicated by her arrest. Like the vast majority of her co-defendants, Alsip didn't break or throw anything. Now she lives in shock over the steep price she and her fellow protesters might pay as the new administration and police forces set the tone for how they will deal with the spike in organized dissent.
    Anarchists and anti-fascist activists across the country have responded to Trump's ascendancy, and particularly the attendant emboldening of white supremacists, with confrontational protest. Rivers of digital ink were spilled approving and denouncing the meme-friendly punch delivered to neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, as well as the militant demonstrations that prevented far right troll Milo Yiannopoulos from waxing hateful at UC Berkeley. But while scattered vandalism and punching (a neo-Nazi) were deemed headline-grabbing militancy, the media relegated the most extreme incidents involving anarchists and antifascists—namely, recent treatment of them—to footnotes.
    A New York Times article published two weeks after the inauguration about anarchist protests accorded just half a sentence to the fact that a Yiannopolous supporter in Seattle shot and seriously injured an anti-fascist activist, and has yet to face charges. Fifteen paragraphs down, a mere mention was given to the mass arrest of the 200-plus anti-fascist protesters on Inauguration Day. The fact that these arrestees now face felony riot charges went unmentioned by the Times—blanket charges, which carry a heft unheard of in the last decades of protest history.
      "In my over thirty years of practicing law, I've never seen anything like this," said veteran D.C. attorney Mark Goldstone, of the charges. Goldstone, who has defended dozens of activist cases and is representing six of the J20 defendants, called the charges "unprecedented territory."
       Dragnet arrests at protests are nothing new—recall the arrest of over 700 Occupy protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge. Nor is the leveling of serious criminal charges to demonstrators accused of property damage. With a legal logic seemingly opposite to that in the J20 cases, just one man was blamed for the $50,000 of property damage wrought during the 2009 Pittsburgh G20 Summit; he was convicted of felony criminal mischief and three misdemeanors. But the charge of felony riot is in itself rare, let alone when applied to over 200 people.

Continue reading HERE:

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

Another Show From The Theatre Of Lies.

The symbol of UK democracy.

        So the UK is to have another election, BORING, BORING, BORING. Does anybody honestly believe that after this latest theatre of lies and hypocrisy, that we will see an end to poverty, an end to homelessness, an adequate health service, and an education system helping all kids to a freethinking maturity? Or will it be business as usual, ordinary people struggling for a decent life, while the rich swagger all the way to the bank. You have seen it all before, pompous messiahs offering you the gift of equality, that they can never deliver. The babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, trying to work the public into a frenzy of choosing between tweedle-dum or tweedle-Dee. How many elections and how many Prime Ministers will it take for the message to sink in, they change nothing, the system stays the same.

         These elections are all about making sure you believe in the illusion that you live in a democracy. We live in that smoke and mirrors of illusion that we the people are calling the shots when it comes to an election, but what is on offer is more of the same, with perhaps little tweaks here and there to suit the taste of a particular messiah. However, the basic structure of exploitation, inbuilt poverty and gross inequality remains the foundation of our society. When has it ever been different.

       These party political elections are capitalisms greatest trick, a necessary illusion for capitalism's survival. Without that illusion that we the people are choosing, the whole festering ruthless system of greed and exploitation would be exposed. When we take part in this theatre of lies and subterfuge, we are complicit in our own exploitation, and we deny our children the future they rightly deserve, a world of justice, freedom from deprivation and exploitation. Our inability to see beyond the capitalism/state monopoly on power, guarantees our future generations a continuous life of struggle for what is their right, a society that sees to the needs of all our people.

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

When In Edinburgh, Visit ACE.

        As usual, ACE in Edinburgh puts on a great array of events, always interesting, always informative, the end of April is no exception.

       Wednesday 19 April Stop Arms Sales to Saudi demo Stop Arms Sales to Saudi: From Scotland with Shame Demo Wednesday 19 April - Scottish Parliament Take Action! From Scotland with Shame: Demonstrate to call for an end to Arms Exports from Scotland Wednesday 19 April from 12 noon – 2pm. Outside Scottish Parliament. https://www.facebook.com/events/100896443796519/ More info at the bottom

       Thursday 20 April Scrap the Family Cap and the “Rape Clause” There will be a demo against the family cap on Child Tax Credits and 'rape clause' at Scottish Parliament from 12:30 - 13:30 this Thursday 20th April, to coincide with First Ministers Questions. Info on opposing these horrific measures at https://www.facebook.com/scotwomensaid/

      Thursday 20th April. Basta! - After the Bolivarian Revolution, with Clifton Ross We'll screen part of a new documentary, "Yukpa: Blood on the Mountain" by Arturo Albarrán and Clifton Ross. Ross, also the author of "Home from the Dark Side of Utopia" (2016, AK Press) will talk about the break-down of 21st Century Socialism, the rightward swing in Latin America and rise of indigenous resistance throughout the continent.

      Free. All welcome. Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh (ACE), 17 West Montgomery Place EH7 5HA Thursday 20th April, 7pm – 9pm Organised by AK Press

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

May Day Picnic On Glasgow Green.

 

           May Day is fast approaching, sadly so many of our young people have had its true significance erased from their memory, its true purpose is never emphasised in our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media.  They would rather spout it as a holiday, so go shopping, buy a ticket for a show or sit in front of your TV and overdose on the candy-floss and bubble-gum crap that it pours out over your living room floor. However, May Day is a very important day in the history and culture of the working class, the ordinary people. 

        It is a day to celebrate our victories in the struggle for that better life for all. A day to remember all those who tirelessly fought the battles to improve all our lives, our working class heroes. A day to meet up with old friends and make new friends, a day of chat, fun, discussion, for all that vast army of ordinary people who struggle day to day.

      In an attempt to bring Glasgow May Day, as it should be, back to that great celebration of ordinary people, in the open air, a group are holding a May Day picnic on The Green, on the First of May 2pm onwards, bring what you expect to find, bring the family and friends, bring your street. Enjoy singing, poetry, music, chat, fun, laughter and friendship. See you there.

 

     On Monday May 1st, from 2:00 pm in the east part of Glasgow Green next to the cycling centre, across from the Templeton Factory, join us for a family day, a fun day, a day to celebrate the solidarity of the working class and on the Green where it belongs.
      Music, poetry, banners, face painting, singing, food to share, friends to chat with, people to meet, stories from our radical past, and news of actions and projects of the present.

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