Glasgow's May Day Celebrations.

     Glasgow May Day celebrations kick off on Tuesday May 1st. Don't forget our gathering at the Donald Dewar statue at the top of Buchanan Street, performers and stalls 12 noon May 1st.
     Then that history walk, Wednesday May 2nd. 6pm, a stroll through the city stopping to learn a wee bit about the Glasgow's radical past, then the main event, the annual Picnic on the Green, Glasgow Green, Sunday, May 6th. from 2pm. again a wee bit of everything, singers, musicians, poets, dancers, face painting, and food to share. Bring what you expect to find, bring the family, bring your street.
     Here's a wee bit of info.

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

A Welcome Sign On A Short Run.

      After six months of medical problems and a prolonged winter and forced inactivity, my thoughts were sadly turning to, would I ever get out on the bike again. Saturday was a beautiful day so after a few trials of trying to get my leg over and onto the bike and back off again, I set off. I picked an easy run, very easy, and a short run, very short, I decided to follow the Forth and Clyde canal for a bit and then return by the same route. I was hoping that the legs wouldn't complain too much, to my delight they didn't. The pace was down as was the gears I was using, but what the hell, here I was pedaling in beautiful sunshine, ah, the exhilaration. Not far along my journey I had to stop and take a photo of a very welcoming sight, an unknown friend had been busy with their paint can.

      So the first run of the late start season over, and looking forward to building it up, weather permitting, after all, this is Scotland, land of the mist and the heather. 

A welcoming sign.

A wee seat at Kirkintilloch to sit and enjoy the canal.

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The Illusion Of Order.

Paris 2018.

        As usual, our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, displays order in our land. The government has set up a hotline for the innocent people of the  "Windrush" engineered victimisation scheme, well that's that problem sort!!! All those lovely people, the leaders of the Commonwealth, are wining and dining with the Queen and agreeing that her, on lifetime benefit, son, should become leader of the Commonwealth, well that's unemployment down again. All this is laced with bits of spice and a little bit of shock here and there, but all is well here in the UK, order reigns among a happy population, after all we have a royal wedding to finance and look forward to, which will bring colour and pleasure into our simple lives. And so the illusion is re-enforced for the gullible. The misery caused by austerity, universal credit, rising homelessness, increasing child poverty, a crumbling education system, and a health service cracking at the seams, is sidelined in favour of popcorn and bubblegum "news", trivia and propaganda. Nor is there a word about the chaos just across the Channel in France. Transport strikes that are paralysing the country, the students' strikes and occupations, Air France strikes, and not forgetting the strikes and protests by civil servants, energy workers and garbage collectors, then there is ZAD, and the ongoing struggle to defend ZAD against brutal eviction. France's Economy Minister has admitted that the strikes are impacting on growth, oh dear. President Macron is not a popular man among the ordinary people, but of course, big business love him. To the uninitiated, that should give you a hint as to where his loyalties lie. 

Defence of ZAD, April 2018.

  

    On top of this welling up of hatred and disgust with the economic system in France, the powers that be, are a bit nervous about the looming 50th. anniversary of the May 1968 French uprising, which may be celebrated in a way that the political ballerinas and corporate Mafia don't like. Well here's hoping. 

Paris, May 1968.

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My Little Patch Of Deprivation.

      Maybe it's my age, or maybe it's just my personality, but I get irritated by the increase in "The only way is----". I suppose this is due to the weird popularity of a certain TV program. On Facebook we have "The only way is Maryhill" and "The only way is Gorbals" will these be followed by "The only way is Garngad", "The only way is Calton", "the only way is Bridgeton" etc., etc. I call this an insular policy, tribalism and petty patriotism, just a precursor to "The only way is Great Briton". It is as though each of these districts were the only slum in Glasgow, and some people wear it like a badge of honour, but let's not forget, Glasgow was a slum. As was Liverpool, Birmingham, Belfast and all industrial cities in this landmass called Great Britain. Instead of looking inwards and focusing on our own little bit of this industrial capitalism created slum, we should be looking outwards towards each other and coming together to free ourselves from the ever increasing threat and distinct possibility, of a return of the modern slums. Let's not describe ourselves by our own little patch of deprivation, we are much bigger than that. We can come together and without the burden of our political ballerinas and "entrepreneurs" ensure we see the last of "The only way is my little piece of deprivation" and the creation of "The only way is the people's world".

 Maryhill.

 Garngad.

 Gorbals.

 Bridgeton.

Calton. 

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Trees Or Tarmac, Autonomy Or Control?

  And more on the ZAD struggle. This from Contra Info:

       A CALL FOR INTERGALACTIC SOLIDARITY ACTIONS EVERYWHERE TO END THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ZAD OF NOTRE DAME DES LANDES

We are writing with the smell of tear gas rising from our fingers. The springtime symphony of birdsong is punctuated by the explosive echo of concussion grenades. Our eyes are watering, less from the gas than the sadness; because our friends’ homes, barns and organic farms are being destroyed. Bulldozers, supported by 2500 riot police, armored vehicles, helicopters and drones, are rampaging through these forests, pastures and wetlands to crush the future we are building here on the to the zad (The zone à defendre).

We are calling on you to take solidarity actions everywhere, it could be holding demos at your local french embassy or consulate, or taking actions against any suitable symbol (corporate or otherwise) of France ! And if you are not too far away, bring your disobedient bodies to join us on the zone. If the French government evicts the zad, it will be like evicting hope.

For fifty years, this unique chequerboard landscape was the site of a relentless struggle against yet another climate wrecking infrastructure – a new airport for the nearby city of Nantes. Farmers and villagers, activists and naturalists, squatters and trade unionists wove an unbreakable ecology of struggle together and three months ago on the 17th of January, the French government announced that the airport project would be abandoned. But this incredible victory, won through a diversity of creative tactics from petitions to direct action, legal challenges to sabotage, had a dark shadow. In the same breath that declared the abandonment, came the announcement that the people occupying these 4000 acres of liberated territory, the 300 of us living and farming in 80 different collectives, would be evicted because we dared not just to be against the airport, but its WORLD as well.

Read the full article HERE:

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Autonomy Verses State Control.

     Years of occupation, in defence of the area and to prevent it becoming another tarmac and concrete jungle and now ten days of relentless state brutality to evict the occupants of ZAD, and still the battle rages. All the savage force of the state apparatus is being brought to forcibly evict a community, autonomy can't be tolerated in the psyche of the state. This land must be under their control and made available to the corporate juggernaut that is raping and plundering the planet. People will be beaten, bludgeoned, teargassed, and forcibly dragged and dumped or arrested, while the state talks of democracy. The struggle taking place in ZAD demands all our support and solidarity. This from Its Going Down:

       The first episode in a series by The Cinema Committee which looks at La ZAD, or the Zone to Defend, in France.
        In the early morning of Monday, April 9, 2018, the current invasion of the ZAD began. This land-occupation near the village of Notre-Dames-des-Landes is still under siege after nine days of tear gas, concussion grenades, drones, clubs, tanks, and attack dogs. Like the famous French children’s song, the imperial assault began on a “Lundi matin” and continued every day of the week until the following Monday when it started all over again. This is now the second week of the siege.
       In the original lyrics of the children’s song, the emperor, the empress, and the prince come to put “you” in a pinch every day of the week but luckily “you” are never there. The emperor of this little song was based on Napoleon III, the disease-ridden tyrant who ruled over France until his disastrous war with Prussia. Thanks to his idiocy and egotism, the city of Paris was surrounded by the invading army and within a year the autonomous Commune had forced the Republican government to flee the city. The current situation is much different than it was in 1871 and hopefully it ends with victory rather than bloodshed. In no uncertain terms, what is being fought for at the ZAD is the earth itself. Unlike the Paris Commune with its delusions about the citizen, the state school, money, and government, this epic battle in the hedgerows is being fought to free the land from the capitalist economy, not compromise with it.
       Our own personal time in the ZAD was far too brief and yet long enough to linger in our minds forever. Like those who’ve visited Chiapas or Rojava, the ZAD is one of the few places on the planet where capitalist time and its market relations have been abolished. Living a communal life free from economic constraints is a visceral experience that makes even the longest work-vacation seem like a sick joke. Nothing is more infectious and viral than the experience of a life worth living. It’s powerful enough that thousands of people have spent the past week fighting for it on the moorland of Notres-Dames-des-Landes where there have been over 100 serious injuries.
      On this Wednesday, April 18, three representatives of the ZAD met with the French state and reasserted their demand that the entire zone be held in common by the inhabitants. As could be expected, the state refused this demand once again and insisted that each parcel must be individually claimed by a private owner no later than April 23. Should the inhabitants of the ZAD refuse to sign their names on these individuals contracts, the French state will order another round of evictions and destroy the remaining 70 structures. This cannot be allowed to happen.
       To help spread awareness of this beautiful zone, we are releasing a series of videos that document this battle to save the ZAD. Each one is formatted as a self-contained episode and will cover the various aspects of this struggle. They are meant to be circulated across North America and will be released until the siege has been broken. This first episode covers the first two days of the eviction and weaves together footage from a variety of sources. As could be expected, the mainstream media outside of France is hardly covering this historic event and it’s up to us to disseminate news of the ZAD. We wish everyone good luck between the hedgerows and hope you all stay free. Keep up the good fight and know we are all with you across the ocean. Let’s bring the ZAD back home!

With love and affection,
-The Cinema Committee

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Glasgow's May Day Celebrations.

        Our fair city of Glasgow is steeped in history, a lot of it is spread out for the public to see, captains of industry, blood soaked defenders of imperialism, Dukes and Lords. None of which tells the story of  the people of Glasgow, their history is airbrushed from view, but every street, every corner as a tale to tell of the struggles of the ordinary people. The history the powers that be, would have you forget.

     So if you are a citizen of Glasgow or just a visitor who wants to know a bit more about the real Glasgow, the Glasgow of the people, then you can have that opportunity during our May Day week celebrations.

     A group of ordinary Glasgow dwellers have put together a week of events marking May Day. It starts on Tuesday May 1st with a gathering with performers and stalls at the Donald Dewar statue 12noon. Then that history thing, on Wednesday 2nd. May, a history walk through the city where you will learn a bit more of the real heart of our fair city of Glasgow.

 Photo courtesy of Daily Record.

Some of those charged after Bloody Friday, Battle of George Square, Glasgow.

Radical History Walk: Planned itinerary

Start and Stop 1: 6pm George Square Wednesday MAY 2nd
Eric on 1915 & 1919
Supplementary info on Demos/Interaction.

Stop 2 6.15: Montrose Street:
Keith - Info on Strickland Press and Aldred, The Word etc.

Stop 3: Old Sheriff Court – Eric on Rent Strike, John McLean etc
6.25

Stop 4: opposite – Brunswick Street
40s Anarchist Federation street meetings & activities – Keith
6.35

Longest stretch of walk via Tolbooth, Gallowgate & London Rd.

Stop 5: – Calton Burial Site – 1787 Weavers – Keith
6.55

Stop 6: – Glasgow Green, via Templetons, Peoples Palace to entrance

7.05: On Free Speech Fights, tradition in the Green & 90s Workers City etc.
Keith & Eric, Summary/ interaction at end

7.20: Head back to town, perhaps after refreshment, Scotia Bar

      After your dip into Glasgow's real history, the week culminates in our annual Picnic on the Green, Sunday, May 6th. 2pm. An event of fun, chat, song, music, dance, poetry, face-painting, food sharing, and stalls, bring what you expect to find, bring the family, bring your street.  

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

Insanity Spews Out Like Sewage.

       The following is a quote from a shit-head nut-case who has no grasp of reality and a complete disregard for the suffering of others. He is the lunatic that is housed in The White House mental asylum. Insanity spews from that institution like sewage from a burst sewage tank.

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!

11:57 AM - Apr 11, 2018

      An immature, spoiled adolescent, attitude to reality, a reality that is so foreign to him, he more or less lives on another planet. His adoring disciples, May, Macron and others, are quite willing to hold onto his coat tails as he runs rampant, creating mayhem, madness and devastating destruction across the planet.  

      Surely now must be the time for all the ordinary sane people of this world to take to the streets to stop this insanity from shaping our world. Across the globe all people want is to live a decent life, this is impossible as long as we allow the insane, immature and psychotic to run our affairs. 

     Mull over his words, are these the words of a reasonable, responsible holder of the key to the world's largest arsenal? Or are these the words of an immature adolescent playing some war game on his computer?  

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Hysteria From The Psychotic, Slaughter For The Innocent.

       A good number of years ago the war mongers of that imperialist power juggernaut, America, decided that Assad of Syria had to go, as he was not one of their puppets. Because of this  the American psychopathic war lords, accompanied by their subservient regimes, unleashed on the innocent people of Syria, 7 years of unimaginable hell. Cities have been totally destroyed, millions of innocent people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands have been killed. Assad is still there, so what is their answer, well the only answer they know, more slaughter and bloodshed, so they attempt to whip the hysteria among their allies and the general population, that more Syrian men, women and children must die in horrible brutal circumstances, so that they can become part of the American imperialist empire.

      This hysterical rhetoric of retaliation and punishment, by a bunch of lying psychopathic people, who will never feel the blast of a missile as it kills and mutilates family and friends, should be of concern to us all. The buddies and protectors of Assad, Russia and Iran, are not likely to sit back and take the punishment quietly. Such action will bring the slaughter in the Middle East much closer to home. I fear for my children and grandchildren as this whipped up hysteria, aided and abetted by that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, can only escalate an already extremely dangerous and bloody mess to a world wide catastrophe. 

      How much longer will we tolerate the insane ruling our world, how much longer can we allow them to, before it is too late? 

BBC: “…what should be the response to this use of chemical weapons if it’s proved?”
Ford: “The correct response is obviously–and I think a child could see this–to get inspectors on to the alleged site of the alleged offenses. In fact, in the last few hours Russia has offered to provide military escorts for inspectors from the recognized body in this field the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Warfare. …I don’t think that Assad is in the least worried that the inspectors would find out his guilt because he’s probably not guilty…
We have to engage our brains as well as our emotions here, not be stampeded by those videos which are described as being unverified but which by dint of being repeated over and over and over again come to acquire a spurious credibility.
We have to ask ourselves what what are the sources of the information on which we’re in this stampede to war. They’re two-fold, and I’m sorry but the media are falling down on the job in investigating this. The sources the Syrian American Medical Society, which is a pro-Islamist propaganda outfit based in the United States…”

Full transcript HERE: 



Thanks Loam for the links.

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

The Subterfuge Of Government.

        Struggle for freedom and autonomy in this society, and try to do deals with the government, you can expect to be lied to, cheated, and if they see fit, savagely bludgeoned. Any dealings with any government, will have to satisfy their need and desire for total control, hence the subterfuge, double dealing and downright lies. Freedom and governments are opposite ends of the spectrum, and are incompatible.The ZAD will have to fight a bitter fight to survive, they will need all the support and solidarity we can muster, or by stealth or brutality, the state will do its damnedest to destroy it and its ideas.
      More details HERE: https://www.unicornriot.ninja/2018/zad-battles-thousands-of-police-during-attempted-eviction-of-autonomous-zone-in-france/

THIS IS THE STATEMENT FROM THE ZAD ASSEMBLY OF USES – 3rd April 2018
         On February 10th, a few weeks after the airport project was dropped, dozens of thousands of people converged again to Notre-Dame-des-Landes to root the future of the zad. Since then, the assembly of uses(*) has laid the foundations of this project through the beginning of a dialogue with government representatives. During this transition phase, a first global collective convention has been proposed by the movement to take the fields and dwellings in charge. But the government still threaten to evict some of these dwellings. An operation mobilizing Thousands (2500 according to the press) of policemen and women are announced for Monday 9th April.
       We denounce the double-dealing of the government which announced it wants a « peaceful and reasonable » evolution of the situation while planning an eviction operation which is moreover illegal. We can’t accept that inhabitants who preserved the bocage will be evicted tomorrow. We can’t accept that dwellings and spaces of activities which have nurtured the experience of the zad and are necessary to its future will be destroyed by a new police operation. We invite those who support the avenir of the zad to organize accordingly!
*In case of evictions of habitations, we call for different types of answers on several geographical scales.*
On the zad and around :
– call to contribute to the workshops organized in april.
– call to come defend the zone.
We already decided that except in case of police intervention, the roads would stay circulating for the inhabitants, the peasants and neighbours. In case of police attack, we might block them if necessary. We call supports to act accordingly. Welcome spaces will be organized on the zone and around.
– call in case of destruction to come rebuild the zone.
Outside the zad :
– call for gatherings and occupations the very night of the evictions on city places, in front of municipalities and prefecture and police stations.
/The //A//ssembl//y//of //U//ses, Tuesday 3rd April. /
      (*) The Assemblies of Uses have been implemented in summer 2017 on the zad of Notre-Dame-des-Landes. They gather regular users of the zad – inhabitants, neighbours, peasants, people involved in activities on the zone and the different componentsof the struggle. Their goal is to think and build the collective organization of this territory according to the 6 points for the avenir of the zad (https://zad.nadir.org/IMG/pdf/6pointszad-a3-2.pdf). Yesterdaynight, this Assemblyhas decided to launch a call to face the imminent evictions on the zad.
FOLLOW THE EVICTIONS ON TWITTER @ZAD_NDDL

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Glasgow's May Day Week.

 

        The people's version of Glasgow May Day 2018, as opposed to the sanitised TUC version, with the political ballerinas telling us how they can lead us to the promised land, starts with Tuesday May 1st. a gathering at Donald Dewar statue 12 noon with performers and stalls, Wednesday May 2nd. A history walk through our city, limited places available, so get your name down now. The week culminates with a picnic on the Green, Sunday May 6th. again performers, stalls and food to share, its a picnic. If you fancy doing a wee slot at either the May 1st. or the picnic on the Green May 6th. a song, a dance, or play an instrument, read a poem, juggle or what ever takes your fancy, get in touch. Whatever you do, come along, bring the family, bring what you expect to find, bring your street. See you there.

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

Call-Out To All Faslane Peace Camp Members.

      Spirit of Revolt is always working hard to record, catalogue and make accessible to the public at large, the history and struggles of the ordinary people. Recently we have been in touch with members, past and present, of the Faslane Peace Camp, in an attempt to archive the history of this world renown struggle for world peace. We want it to be recorded, more widely known, and easily accessible. To this end this is a call out to members of the Faslane Peace Camp, past and present, to get in touch with their stories, photos, posters and other memorabilia. 

From Jane, a former member of the camp:

       Call out to all former Faslane Peace Campers.
Faslane Peace Camp – Resisting Nuclear Weapons Since 1982 – Preserving our History
      Since Faslane Peace Camp was first set up in June 1982 many people have lived there and for weeks, months and years made the camp their home. Many more have visited and joined in protests and nonviolent action organised by the camp against Trident, the UK’s nuclear weapons system based at Faslane.
      Now campers past and present are collaborating with Spirit of Revolt to gather together material to compile an archive of the history of the camp so far. Spirit of Revolt are based at The Mitchell Library in Glasgow although they maintain ownership of their collections and they also have an archivist working with a team of volunteers to scan material to make it available on their website. http://spiritofrevolt.info
       Spirit of Revolt are interested in a wide array of material from the Peace Camp including newsletters, photographs, leaflets and posters, minutes of meetings, correspondence involving strategy and tactics, mementos, poems and stories. All of this can be helpful in getting a good picture of what the Peace Camp stands for and how it has evolved over time.
        Please share this call out for archive material and contact Spirit of Revolt  if you would like to donate material, volunteer to help with this project or would like to be involved in an aural history project about Faslane Peace Camp.  Contact info@spiritofrevolt.info   or use the contact form on their website http://spiritofrevolt.info/contact/  (please don’t take things to the Mitchell Library without getting in touch first)
        There is also a Facebook group page for former campers to meet and discuss what material we have dug out and piece together our history. https://www.facebook.com/groups/207759269813590/
          You have to join the group if you want to be able to post to it. 

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50 Years On, Have We Learned Enough?

      All the capitalist states with their "representative democracy" governments rumble along with the population grudgingly going about their business with a reluctant passivity, giving the impression that the system is acceptable. Now and again their is an explosion and a large slice of the passive population stands up and says, "enough is enough", we want change. It happens in different parts of the world at different times, and the state concerned shudders to a halt, and with its brutal apparatus of repression it savagely tries to regain control and get the population back to the passive resignation of acceptance of the unjust exploitative system, a system that heaps power and privilege on the wealthy.

     May 1968 in France was one of those explosions, what started as a student protest spread like wild fire, and brought the underlying, simmering anger of the workers onto the streets. The French state shuddered, wavered, grasped around for ways to regain control, and with the usual savagery, brutality and the carrot and stick, slowly managed to regain the reins of power. 

       France again is facing mass protests as the state pushes ahead with the capitalist mantra of "privatisation and slashing workers condition" is the blood transfusion necessary to save their precious capitalist system of power and privileges for the wealthy. Will the fiftieth anniversary of May 1968 inspire the workers and the students with the thought that they nearly brought it all tumbling down last time, have they learned enough that perhaps this time they might succeed. Time will tell, but we must offer all support and solidarity to the French workers who are at this moment, involved in a struggle to preserve what conditions they have, and to prevent the capitalist juggernaut from devouring their publicly owned transport system.

   

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Anarchist Black Cross Solidarity Festival in Vienna.

         Prisons, one of the state's many tools of repression, are now also profit making commercial concerns. Getting prisoners, as slave labour, to work for next to nothing, and with no rights, filling the coffers of corporate bosses. There is no place in a civilised society for prisons, freedom, justice and equality will only be born when we walk over the ashes of the prison system and all its appendages. 

Austria: 

Anarchist Black Cross Solidarity Festival in Vienna

 20 – 23 April 2018

Program 2017

abcfestvienna.noblogs.

Our passion for freedom is stronger than any prison

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