UK, A World Leader!!

      The UK, mother of parliaments, defender of freedom and justice, and now it can claim to be a world leader, top dog, away out in front of any other country in the world. What is is that the UK can claim to be the big boss in, the number one, the master in the field? Well in is a field in which no other country comes near to the UK, it is of course in facilitating tax dodging.

From The Independent:

       But an index published today by the Tax Justice Network found that the UK has “single-handedly” done the most to break down the global corporate tax system which loses an estimated $500bn (£395bn) to avoidance.
The amount dodged globally each year is more than three times the NHS budget or roughly equivalent to the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Belgium. Tax haven territories linked to Britain are responsible for around a third of the world’s corporate tax avoidance risk – more than four times the next greatest contributor, the Netherlands.

      While you and I get our tax whipped of before we get our hands on our cash, big business is granted the privilege of avoiding paying their taxes. We can't really expect our prancing political ballerinas to do anything about that matter, after all some of them use that facility, or have friends that do so. They will waffle and babble on about this disgraceful situation, set up committees to look at it, speak about it on tele. Then in the next year or two another "revelation" about this "flaw" in the system will hit the headlines and then the  pontificating will start all over again.
      Mean while we will be told that there is no money tree and the NHS will have to be more efficient, the education system will need to get smarter in the way it does things, social services will be told to be more joined up with other services. Libraries will close, other services will handed to the private sector, the same sector that is stuffing its profits in some tax haven to avoid paying anything into the public purse.
      WE are being shafted on a daily basis, yet most people still seem to think the answer is in doing what they have done for countless years with no effect, appealing to those who legislate so that their friends can continue to shaft the public. When will we ever learn---

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The Struggle Continues.

      We the ordinary people have a history we can be very proud of, and we should do what we can to remember those who helped make that proud history. We should tell their stories and keep their ideas alive, we are still struggling to achieve their ideas and dreams. Their lives can inspire us and point us in the right direction, the lives they lived should not be in vain. There are those today who are writing that rich history of the ordinary people in their struggle for justice and freedom, we must offer up our solidarity. It is our duty to carry that battle forward for that better world for all. The final chapter in that history will be our victory over injustice, exploitation, authority, poverty and wars.

From Roar Magazine.

• ROAR Collective

      From the barricades of the Paris Commune to anti-colonial resistance in the South Pacific, Louise Michel was one of the most important revolutionaries of the 19th century.

       Louise Michel, born on 29 May, 1830, is today remembered as one of the most influential and charismatic revolutionaries of the 19^th century. Her role in the Paris Commune of 1871 — first in the ambulance service and later on the front lines with the National Guard fighting against the Versailles troops — eventually led to her capture and deportation from France to a penal colony in New Caledonia.

It was during her exile that Michel turned towards anarchism, which would continue to dominate her writing and organizing for the rest of her life. In 1880 she was granted amnesty, and upon her return to France she continued her revolutionary activities, writing articles, giving speeches, setting up a soup kitchen for impoverished ex-prisoners who returned from exile, and traveling across Europe delivering her revolutionary message to large audiences. In 1890 she opened the International Anarchist School for children on London’s Fitzroy Square, before returning to France in 1895. Michel died on 10 January, 1905, after which her funeral in Paris was attended by more than 100,000 people.

      Michel’s revolutionary defiance is clearly expressed in her defense speech before the 6^th council of war after her capture during the defeat of the Paris Commune:

I do not wish to defend myself, I do not wish to be defended. I belong completely to the social revolution, and I declare that I accept complete responsibility for all my actions. I accept it completely and without reservations.

You accuse me of having taken part in the murder of the generals? To that I would reply Yes, if I had been in Montmartre when they wished to have the people fired on. I would not have hesitated to fire myself on those who gave such orders. But I do not understand why they were shot when they were prisoners, and I look on this action as arrant cowardice.

As for the burning of Paris, yes, I took part in it. I wished to oppose the invader from Versailles with a barrier of flames. I had no accomplices in this action. I acted on my own initiative.

I am told that I am an accomplice of the Commune. Certainly, yes, since the Commune wanted more than anything else the social revolution, and since the social revolution is the dearest of my desires. More than that, I have the honour of being one of the instigators of the Commune, which by the way had nothing–nothing, as is well known–to do with murders and arson. I who was present at all the sittings at the Town Hall, I declare that there was never any question of murder or arson.

Do you want to know who are really guilty? It is the politicians. And perhaps later light will be brought on to all these events which today it is found quite natural to blame on all partisans of the social revolution…

But why should I defend myself? I have already declared that I refuse to do so. You are men who are going to judge me. You sit before me unmasked. You are men and I am only a woman, and yet I look you in the eye. I know quite well that everything I could say will not make the least difference to your sentence. So a single last word before I sit down. We never wanted anything but the triumph of the great principles of the revolution. I swear it my our martyrs who fell at Satory, by our martyrs whom I acclaim loudly, and who will one day have their revenge.

Once more I belong to you. Do with me what you please. Take my life if you wish. I am not the woman to argue with you for a moment….

What I claim from you, you who call yourselves a Council of War, who sit as my judges, who do not disguise yourselves as a Commission of Pardons, you who are military men and deliver your judgement in the sight of all, is Satory where our brothers have already fallen.

I must be cut off from society. You have been told to do so. Well, the Commissioner of the Republic is right. Since it seems that any heart which beats for freedom has the right only to a lump of lead, I too claim my share. If you let me live, I shall never stop crying for revenge, and I shall avenge my brothers by denouncing the murderers in the Commission for Pardons….

I have finished. If you are not cowards, kill me!

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Inequality, The Hallmark Of Capitalism.

       Remember the Celtic Tiger, when the Irish economy supposedly raced ahead? In a sane society that should have went everybody is doing well, but in capitalist insanity, it tends to lead to increase homelessness and fatter parasites. Since then homelessness in Ireland, like in the UK, has soared. The boom economy has in no way eradicated poverty and homelessness, nor will it ever. History has proven time and time again, that running to the ballot box produces more of the same, fatter parasites and poorer people. If we desire a society of fairness and justice, then we have to accept that the capitalist system is inherently flawed. It is incapable of delivering that better world for all, it was never intended to do so, it was always meant to delivery riches to the few, and it works perfectly in doing just that. We have to look to an alternative to capitalism if we wish that better world for all. A community based system of co-operation, mutual aid, and sustainability, a system freed from the greed driven profit motive, free from state, corporate bosses and the financial Mafia. That will not be gifted to us, asking your slave-master to be fair to you has never worked, the powerful and wealthy will not willing give up their privileged position in favour of a fairer society. We, the ordinary people will have to dismantle their system, illusion by illusion, injustice by injustice. That better world will not be delivered in bunch of roses, it will take determination, effort, sweat and the will of all our people, it is, and will continue to be, a war, a class war until we eliminate the capitalist system from the face of the earth.

     From Dublin via Act For Freedom Now:

       On a night in May, 2 banks, Bank of Ireland and an AIB were vandalized in South Dublin. Slogans of “HOMES FOR ALL”, “BURN THE BANKS”, and “CLASS WAR” spray painted on windows and walls. Also 4 ATM’s were glued up, how this was done was by using cardboard the same thickness, width, and half the length of an ATM card, inserted into the card slot and then super glue pored in.
This was done in solidarity with all those who are on the receiving end of the so called “housing crisis”. This so called “crisis” for housing has been raging as long as capitalism has existed, although now the struggle for housing is at a particularly brutal period. There are record number of people homeless in Ireland, there is over 10,000 and over 3,000 are children (these numbers don’t include the hidden homeless). Since 2015, families becoming homeless has risen 268%, and many, many people have died frozen to death sleeping on the streets.
        This crisis in housing is completely man made. It’s made from the greed of landlords pushing rents higher and higher, the property developers buying up land and buildings for dirt cheap and then selling the properties for sky high prices, and the Irish state implementing neoliberal reforms and policies. It is no coincidence that while the economy rises and the building construction kicks off again across Dublin so to does the ever growing amount of people becoming homeless.
All the while the politicians of the Left and Right compete and beg for votes with the upcoming elections. The political establishment don’t care, they just want positions of power. Whether radical leftie or far right dickheads, they are all the same and want the same. The lefties and fascists have their populist schemes and “solutions” to end homelessness and the housing problem. But you can be sure regardless of whoever gets voted in things will stay exactly the same. Politicians, parties, and unions ALWAYS compromise. There will be no end to the housing struggle on till capitalism ceases to exist.

Neither, Politicians, leaders, bosses, nor bureaucrat:
for self-organization in struggle against power
FUCK THE LEFT, FUCK THE RIGHT, FUCK POLITICS

LONG LIVE ANARCHY
THE SINISTER FRINGE

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Media Indefference To Migrants Deaths.

 

         I have often stated that migrants, as far as the state is concerned, are beings with no human rights, a sub-human species, to be used as scapegoats, as fodder for the political machinations of their particular ideology. This is a phenomenon from the state created illusion of our superiority, our exceptionalism. There is a litany of cases of migrants being abused, used and denigrated, and being stripped of their humanity. A 1948, in America, one case of migrant herding ended in tragedy with the media adding further insult by treating the deaths of the migrants with indifference. Woody Guthrie marked the occasion with a poem.

Lyrics

The crops are all in and the peaches are rott'ning,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They're flying 'em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again

Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;
You won't have your names when you ride the big airplane,
All they will call you will be "deportees"

My father's own father, he waded that river,
They took all the money he made in his life;
My brothers and sisters they working the old church,
They rode the big truck still laydown and died
"Chorus"
The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon,
A fireball of lightning, and shook all our hills,
Who are all these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says, "They are just deportees"
"Chorus"

 TEDx Talks published on June 3rd 2026.

        In 1948, a plane carrying 32 passengers crashed in the Los Gatos Canyon, California killing everyone on board. The media, including the New York Times, listed the names of the pilots, the flight attendant and the immigration guard but all 28 of the migrant workers (braceros) were labeled as deportees. This angered folk singer Woody Gutherie who wrote a poem about the crash. Almost ten years later, school teacher Martin Hoffman composed a melody to Guthrie's poem and that song became well known. Around 2010 Central Valley writer Tim Z. Hernandez discovered the story and soon began a project of finding the names and surviving relatives. Soon after musician Lance Canales joined the journey and composed his own version of the legendary song with Hernandez reading all the names of the deceased workers. Thanks to a fundraiser spearheaded by the two artist a new head stone has been built in the Holy Cross honoring all 32 passengers. Lance Canales is a roots-blues musician from California’s breadbasket. He lived the life that so many songs have been written about since the birth of roots music – hard labor, one room shacks and ghosts whispering of a better life. Canales’ guttural vocals combine a hard-edged storytelling approach with stripped down, foot-stomping, acoustic instrumentation that people readily respond to; Canales and his band, The Flood, were a favorite at the 2015 Sister’s Folk Festival. Canales led the initiative to place a memorial headstone with the names of the plane crash victims of the famous Woody Guthrie song “Deportee,” who were discovered buried nameless in a mass grave in Fresno, California. Now and forever nameless no more. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

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States, Green Liars.

        Most states are spouting the lie that they are following a "green" agenda, it makes them look good in the eyes of certain sections of the public. Here in the UK the present Tory government has stated it plans to be the "greenest" government in UK history, then in the same breath, gives planning permission for fracking to take place. Germany is similar, waffling on about its "green" credentials but granting permission for further opencast mining to the detriment of the local communities, the ecology of the area and continues to feed the atmosphere with CO2 gasses. Open cast mining is probably one of the worst culprits for devastating the landscape, they simply tear the surface of the earth apart over a vast area, making it look like a moonscape, not to mention the damage done by the burning of the result of this ecological disaster.  

      There is strong resistance by communities to these acts of duplicity, but states can and have bulldozed the opposition of local communities with sicking regularity. We need to link up all our opposition to these deeds of ecological acts of terrorism with a concerted resistance to the root cause, capitalism. The state and capitalism are hand in glove by far the greatest threat to our existence. They will continue to rape and plunder the planet for their gain of power, wealth and privilege. The welfare of the planet and its inhabitants are of very little concern to the state/capitalist machine, the managers of this destructive duo seem to be oblivious to the fact that if they continue as they are going, they will be part of the that species that went extinct. Only the combined power of the ordinary people can stop this greed driven human suicide, and anarchism is the only tool that is capable of turning round this human blunder and creating a sustainable system that sees to the welfare of the planet and all its inhabitants. However, time is running out, we are at the stage of now or never, which will we choose.  

German citizens resistance to open cast mining, from Enough is Enough:

        The action group “Kohle erSetzen!”(replace coal) and the alliance “Alle Dörfer bleiben” (all villages stay) call for a sit-in blockade against the construction of the L354n road between Wanlo and Kuckum, which began yesterday. The road will only be needed if more villages are destroyed for the brown coal underneath. Under the motto “Not a single meter for coal”, residents and activists of the climate justice movement want to block construction work on Monday 27 May.
       “With this road construction, RWE is revealing its ignorance of the forthcoming coal withdrawal,” says Mira Jäger, press spokeswoman for Kohle erSetzen! “It is clear that all villages will remain. Even with the completely inadequate result of the coal commission, the opencast mines can hardly be continued. Thus both the dredging of the villages and the new road construction are absolutely unnecessary.” Nevertheless, a piece of forest has already been cleared for the construction work and several hectares of fertile arable land are to be sacrificed.
       “In order to create more facts and to put people in the villages under pressure, RWE is building a new ‘mine edge road’ far behind the villages. This is a mockery for all those who are determined to stay in their villages,” says David Dresen from the threatened village Kuckum. If open-cast mining continues as RWE intended, the new roadside mine road will not be needed until 2027, when Kuckum will be destroyed. RWE has already had approval for the new construction for four years. According to RWE’s current plans, it would be sufficient if road construction were not to begin until 2025. The local residents therefore assume that RWE is already building to put them under pressure and deprive them of the quality of life in their villages. “At RWE, there is a system in place to make life hell for the people here. The construction of the road raises the provocations to a new level,” says David Dresen. “In order to give weight to our demand for an immediate halt to all preparatory mining measures, we are therefore forced to go one step further and call for the construction work to be blocked.”
      RWE is currently digging a path through fields and forest across the full width of the future road. Once this work has been completed, the aisle will be examined for possible old explosive devices and archaeological finds, after which road construction will begin immediately.
       In the last 100 years almost 300 settlements for lignite mining have been destroyed in Germany alone. In the meantime, however, broad support has emerged for a quick exit from coal, as is demanded by tens of thousands of people every week during the “Fridays for Future” climate strike. Nevertheless, RWE is pushing ahead with the resettlement of around 1,500 people in the Rhineland region. Six villages and additional farms are still under threat from the Garzweiler II open-cast mine. On 22 June, Alle Dörfer bleiben therefore invites you to a major day of action in the Rheine region (Rheinisches Revier), together with Fridays for Future, BUND, Greenpeace, Campact and nature lovers. On this day, activists from Ende Gelände will also disobey the coal mining industry elsewhere (but near… Enough 14).
        RWE’s business not only destroys village communities in Germany. As corporation with the highest carbon dioxide emissions in Europe, it poses a particular threat to the existence of people worldwide who are losing their basic livelihoods as a result of the climate crisis. These people are already suffering from increasingly severe droughts and extreme weather events, even though they have contributed very little to the climate crisis.

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"Gentrification And Ghettoisation"

       It is a world wide phenomena, changing cities. Cities used to be where ordinary people lived, worked and had their leisure activities, those days have gone. To day cities are being turned in to, "business centres" or "pleasuredromes" for the wealthy, centres for tourists to come and spend their wealth. Expensive luxury apartments, glossy, glitzy restaurants, expensive coffee bars and "high fashion shops. In some areas, the ordinary people of the district are being pushed out to make way for what can only be called university towns, one or more universities surrounded by student accommodation. All this is to make money for the chosen few, the small group of parasites that control our lives by duplicitous financial manipulation. We accept that we should be excluded form our cities and herded on the periphery, or we decide that the cities belong to the people and not the financial Mafia. If we believe we should live in our cities we will have to fight to take them back, they are not going to gifted to us by the invading corporate juggernaut.

     The following article is from Athens, but could be from any city in the developed world. The ordinary people are being herded out to the periphery to be housed in  cheap, shoddy schemes, lacking in amenities. A systematic policy of "gentrification and ghettoisation". Out of sight of the prancing privileged as they enjoy their existence in the consumer illusion of happiness made of bubble and fizz.

This translated version from 325: 
Original source: https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1597841/

         Tourism grows like flowers in the spring, security cameras appear like leaves to protect the peaceful citizens. Everything must be clear, beautiful and in developmental path. The appearance of the city should fit into the list of Aegean Airlines. Tourists do not need a lot, some chain stores and hipster coffeeshops, a good guide to explaining which places to avoid, and something that fits into the “authentic Greek experience”. We look forward to the next group of tourists who will take a selfie around the Acropolis.At the same time, our neighborhood degrades slowly. People who can not respond to the increase of rent price are either forced to find another home to stay or are forced to comply with the new rules. At the same time, investors are exacerbating the situation as they buy old houses, which are being demolished and, in their place, they are building luxurious housing estates. Apartments renovated for short-term rent (AIRBNB) as well as public spaces and parks are privatized reducing free and open spaces. The game is as old as the same city is listening to the name of private property . The rule is also simple: whoever does not own, will pay, whoever does not pay will be expelled. People who are not part of the capitalist machine, little illegal sellers and homeless people, illegal graffiti and political posters, life in general, and things that can not be sold will disappear. We know very well that nothing will be given to us because we do not belong to the owners’ side. We know that we do not even fit into this suffocating capitalist context, nor do we want to keep up with the logic of bosses and investors. That is why we are fighting against their expansionist and developmental plans.On Tuesday 9/04, we visited a boutique (as they call it) of luxury apartments, which is in its final stage of implementation, on Kolokotroni street between Koukaki and Petralona. Kolokotroni Street is a street with several old or abandoned houses, and it seems that the crows of the construction company from Glyfada have put it in the goal. During our visit, we put a banner that read: “RICH PEOPLE GET BACK TO YOUR SUBURBS, HOUSING IS NOR A LIFESTYLE NEITHER A PRODUCT, IT’S A NEED (A)”, we throw paint on the freshly painted walls and advertisements of the company, write slogans and open holes or even completely tear apart interior walls. Nevertheless, investors insist on forcing us to a second visit and today they have put cameras thinking that we will stop.

OUTSIDE THE INVESTORS FROM OUR NEIGHBORHOOD AGAINST AIRBNB AND LUXURY APARTMENTS NO ATTACK TOWARDS OUR LIFE WILL STAY WITHOUT ANSWER IF WE DON’T GET ORGANIZED IN ALL NEIGHBOURHOODS, OUR CITIES WILL BECOME MODERN PRISONS

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Read of the Month, SchNEWS.

 

        The "Read of the Month"  on our Spirit of Revolt website is a little different this time. It consists of some cartoons and drawings taken from the Anarchist paper, SchNEWS. The paper was produce by Brighton anarchist over a number of years, and ceased publication 2014.
     Some interesting and some amusing, but always with a punch. Spirit of Revolt has a number of issues of SchNEWS in their archive and these are available to view in the Archive Department on the 5th. floor of the Mitchell Library. We will of course be putting them on line at some point, but scanning is a slow process, we have thousands of documents, photos, leaflets, booklets papers and serials etc. to scan and we can always use volunteer scanners, so if you are interest in helping in preserving anarchist, libertarian-socialist history get in touch. info@spiritofrevolt.info

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WitchHunt.

        I am a great admirer of Camcorder Guerillas, so anything they produce, I always feel is worth looking at. This latest event they are hosting at the CCA, 350, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, tomorrow, Friday 24th. May, the film,  WitchHunt is certainly worth a visit. 

      I'm no lover of the Labour Party nor of Jeremy Corbyn, I see him as another Messiah that will spout how he will lead the people to the promised land. But you and I know that nobody can lead the people to that better world, they have to come together and walk there hand in hand, by themselves. However, I do think that what happened when he was elected leader of the Labour Party highlights how the establishment will always react when it gets the slightest whiff of anything suggesting a social program. The various rightwing diehards will start their devious exercises in poisoning the narrative. Character assassination is always a standard weapon in their armoury. It's how the establishment works.  

       This should be a very interesting film and discussion, well worth the visit.

About the film: 

         In 2015, the far right was gaining ground around the world, socialist MP Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the UK Labour Party in a landslide victory. Accusations of anti-semitism within the party immediately began to circulate. Well-known anti-racists and left-wing Jews, such as Jackie Walker, were amongst the chief targets.
        WitchHunt is an important 'must-see' film that sets out to investigate the stories and people behind the anti-semitism headlines, examining the nature of the accusations.
        Is this a witch hunt, as some claim? If so, who is behind it, and what is the political purpose of such a campaign?
        There will be a post-screening panel discussion chaired by journalist and political commentator Iain Macwhirter, with the film's director Jon Pullman, activist & academic Sarah Glyn and Avigail Arbubunel a Jewish Israeli psychotherapist.

The discussion:

        The WitchHunt Post screening discussion will be chaired by journalist and political commentator Iain Macwhirter, with the film's director Jon Pullman, activist & academic Sarah Glyn and Avigail Arbubunel a Jewish Israeli psychotherapist.
          Iain Macwhirter is the political commentator of The Herald and the Sunday Herald. He is an author and a documentary film and radio presenter as well as a former Rector of Edinburgh University.
         Jon Pullman is an activist and filmmaker with a particular interest in the Middle East, where he has travelled widely. Pullman has produced several short documentaries on Palestine, including Children in Chains, about child prisoners under Israeli military occupation. WitchHunt is his first feature length documentary.

           Avigail Arbubunel was born and raised in Israel. She served in the Israeli army between 1982-1984. Avigail left Israel to Australia in 1991 and in 2001 renounced her Israeli citizenship in protest. Since then she has been an activist for Palestinian rights and against Israeli settler-colonialism in Palestine. Avigail is the editor of Beyond Tribal Loyalties: Personal Stories of Jewish Peace Activists.
           Sarah Glynn is a social and political geographer working at the University of Edinburgh. She is interested in housing, social exclusion and multiculturalism and is the editor of Where the Other Half Lives.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

We Tolerate Avoidable Mass Death And Deprivation.

         I wrote the following piece about 9 years ago, and I doubt if anyone can see any difference to this world 9 years on. Perhaps the figures have changed a percentage point here and there, but the overall picture is still the same, avoidable gross misery, injustice, and death for vast swaths of the world's population. How long will we not only tolerate, but continue to be party to the system that is the root cause of all that misery, deprivation and death?
        The system will not correct itself and become a benevolent system of justice and equality. No amount of petitioning the Czars of the corporate juggernaut, or their minders, state governments, will change the unchangeable. The entire system is built on greed, exploitation and plundering of natural resources, for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many. The system has to be destroyed and a new way of thinking developed that creates a system that sees to the needs of all our people, in one simple word, the answer is anarchism, think about it.

 

 

I Want to Believe!

I want to believe

All that is good is out there

Sleeping in hearts that live in dark valleys,

About to blossom like some magic woodland,

In spite of war, in spite of greed

The essence that is humanity struggling to be free.

All around death arrives in many guises,

Silent as the frost poverty kills,

The ruthless march of war

With every drum beat seeks God’s blessing,

While the God fearing kill the God fearing,

Slaughter in the name of the greater good.

I want to believe

All that is good is out there

Sleeping in the hearts that live in dark valleys

About to blossom like some magic woodland,

Not just as the dream of poets.

A blast from the past, 9 years ago:

         It is difficult to grasp the state of the world that we have created. A world where there is an abundance of almost everything conceivable and yet to the vast majority of the world’s population it is all out of reach. A world where a small elite live a life of obscene and wasteful wealth while millions die of starvation and millions of children die from the lack of clean drinking water. In this capitalist made world there are small enclaves where the rich, in safety, play games with their expensive toys, private jets, luxury cars, yachts and several holiday homes in “exotic” locations. While just over that financial apartheid wall there is the stench of squalor and death for countless millions living in total deprivation and endless wars,
         In this capitalist created world, 8 million people die every year from poverty, One billion children live in abject poverty, 640 million do not have access to appropriate shelter, 140 million have never attended school, 400 million do not have access to clean uncontaminated water, 500 million do not have basic sanitation, 270 million have no access to health care, and 90 million are severely food deprived. Approximately 12.3 million people worldwide live in conditions of “modern slavery,”while over one billion people live on less than one dollar of income per day and over three billion live on less than two dollars per day. Then there is the strata in between that manage to scrape a reasonable existence that seems to keep them from revolt.
        All this misery in spite of the fact that the world economy actually produces one and a half times the amount of food necessary to provide the entire human population with adequate and nutritious meals. The fact that the capitalist system will not allow this to be shared out to those in need tells us that it is not a natural problem but a political problem. Perhaps the words of Derrick Jensen come close to capturing something of that world.
         “We are members of the most destructive culture ever to exist. Our assault on the natural world, on indigenous and other cultures, on women, on children, on all of us through the possibility of nuclear suicide and other means—all these are unprecedented in their magnitude and ferocity ... What this means is that corporations and those who run them cannot stop exploiting resources and amassing wealth until they have...I cannot finish this sentence, because the truth is that they can never stop; like cancer, they can only continue to expand until they kill the host ... For us to maintain our way of living, we must tell lies to each other and especially to ourselves. The lies are necessary because, without them, many deplorable acts would become impossibilities.”

 Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk   

Support For Anarchist Prisoner On Hunger Strike.

        Those who speak out against state repression and its bed companion capitalism will always feel the iron heel of its loaded judicial system, and deserve our unreserved support and solidarity. That support should be loud and visible.

The following from Anarchists News:

        In the afternoon of May 21st 2019, anarchists of “Rouvikonas” collective “invaded” the grounds of the greek parliament (the most “secured” building in Greece) in the center of Athens and attacked the main parliament building with red paint and flares, in solidarity to prisoner Dimitris Koufodinas, who is on hunger strike since May 2nd 2019 (his health is in a critical and serious condition), whilst despite the fact that he has been jailed since 2003 and he is entitled to a temporary leave of two days, his petition has been denied on the grounds of his political beliefs (a revolutionary left advocate).
       During the past few weeks there has been a barrage of dozens of attacks on high-profile targets in solidarity to hunger strike Dimitris Koufodinas, including the U.S. ambassador’s home, banks, luxury shops, political offices and police stations.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Revolving Mind.

       As a rule, I'm an optimistic guy, always confident that we will find a way, my glass is always half full. Of course now and again those dark pessimistic thoughts send their poisonous tentacles into the labyrinth of my mind, and a different set of thoughts come out. 

      Looking at the ecological disaster that stands before us and the blind greed of those at present, in control of the reins of power, my thoughts went back to a little piece I wrote about a couple of hundred years ago, well it seems like that.

Tomorrow’s World!

See the fat cat’s grinning smile

as Corporate Capitalism runs amok,

Chasing profit as it goes

firing millions of ordinary folk.

Raping and polluting land after land,

starting bloody wars.

Toxic waste, sweat shop wages

and oil covered sea shores.

Where have all the flowers gone

beneath this ozone free sky?

To join the birds, to join the fox

on yonder plutonium field to die.

Mercury fish, strontium lamb

trees that never show a leaf,

radio active beaches, toxic streams

good lean BSE-antibiotic beef.

In a world of epidemic, plague and famine

it’s bottled water and chemical food.

Of course, it’s all tested on rats and mice

so you know its got to be good.

Beneath a sky that’s always black,

hurricane winds and endless drought,

its oxygen masks for the toxic air,

corporate profit’s what its all about.

      Of course I always try to kill those pessimistic poisonous tentacles, but they do warn us of what might lie ahead. So, without forgetting the warning those thoughts send us, I'll try to dispel those dark clouds and close with some thoughts I scribbled down in more recent times.

WALK WITH THE POETS.

My head has had enough of you,
you doomsday sooth-sayers, and
rationalists, that trap us in the world that is.
Go weave your tales of “can't be done”
to the dead, and those of no imagination.
I want to walk with the utopian,
the dreamer and the poet,
laugh with the child and sing with the wind.
Run with the deer, not with “the market trend”
Enough of, “this is the way it has to be”,
a world of poverty, wars and inequality.
Now, I'll create the world I want to see,
A world of sharing, peace and liberty.
I want the children to plan tomorrow,
the adult help them get there,
trees and flowers our treasured possessions,
with birds and animals their keepers.
Who wants a world that chains us to mortgages,
binds us to a labouring day, just to eat bread?
Who wants to spend their life, feeding fat-cats
while their own children go hungry?
No, this is not the world that has to be,
in our foolishness and misplaced trust,
this is a world that has slithered over us,
poisoning our mind, putrefying our spirit.
Let's call on the poet, let's welcome the dreamer,
let's take council with the utopian,
They'll help us create a better world for all. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Public Park And Broken Glass, Bad Combination.

       Another lovely day, isn't our climate wonderful. I have a short memory problem when it comes to our wet and windy, cold and drizzly Scottish weather, because of which, I am always optimistic about our climate. So another wee run out on the bike, again one of those embarrassing short runs. This time very local, headed for Springburn Public Park, my local park. It is not that large but was a maze of tracks and paths lots of them shrouded in trees and shrubs. You can merrily cycle around twisting and turning under the impression that you are going somewhere. It is the public park I played in as a school kid, many centuries ago. As well as football pitches, a bowling green, kids play area, and what is a large green space, used as a cricket pitch, it has three ponds. One is labelled Duck conservation pond, another is a beautiful wild life pond, the third, when I was a boy, used to be the boating pond, where you could hire small paddle boats and for a short period, be a pirate. It is now another wild life pond. At the moment as well as lots of mallard ducks there are swans standing guard over their cygnets. Most of the tracks are smooth tarmac, good for the bike, a few stretches are rather in need of repair.

 

       What started off as a great day went all wrong after about 8 miles or so of pleasant pedaling. Sadly the park has a couple of spots where some idiot has smashed a bottle and left it there for kids to fall on, dogs to walk over and cyclist to get punctures. Yes, you guessed it, I got a puncture, back wheel. Walking is not my thing any more, nor is sitting on the grass fixing a puncture. It's not the sitting on the grass, its the getting back up, arthritis and all that jazz. So I walked a bit, found a tree stump, sat there and fixed the puncture. stumbled back to the path and went to get on the bike and discovered that the front wheel was also flat. Too much bother to fix it, so ended my wee cycle, the rest was a slow rather painful walk pushing the bike. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

The State And Repression, Interchangable Words.

 

        Repression will be endless until the state and capitalism are buried deep in the dustbin of humanity's disasters. Dissent and desire for justice and equality will forever be in jeopardy as long as we tolerate the state and its bastard twin, capitalism. Under the existing system you are only free from repression if you are subservient, obedient and submissive, if that is the life you seek, then stay with the present greed driven cancerous system. If you desire a life of equal opportunity, freedom, equality and justice, then you must stand up, speak out and do what you can to erode this exploitative system that breeds deprivation, poverty and endless wars, and is well on the way to making the planet uninhabitable.
       Pick your state, and you will find that those who speak out against this savage inhuman system will be feeling the heel of brutal repression, all stamped with the badge of legality. Those who do feel that brutal heel of repression demand and deserve our support and solidarity.

Published in Enough Is Enough, This from Madrid:

        The following is the statement of the compañeras arrested in Madrid on May 13 in an “anti-terrorist” operation carried out jointly by agents of the Information and Riot Squad of the UIP in two squatted spaces in the district of Tetuán, a house and the Anarchist Space The Ambush ( La Emboscada ).
        Originally published by La Rebelión de las Palabras. Translated by Abolition Media Worldwide.
        “Guilty” or “innocent”, for them our solidarity, complicity and affection.
      On the morning of May 13, an anti-riot unit, together with the group 21 of the Provincial Information Brigade of Madrid, dedicated exclusively to espionage and hunting, burst into our homes and into the anarchist space La Emboscada, three weeks after its inauguration.
        They informed us that they were bringing a warrant for the arrest and detention of two of us under the charge of terrorism.
      During the registration, which lasted approximately 6 hours, comrades from all over Madrid came to show their support.
      Meanwhile, the police seemed especially interested in taking clothes: colored and black coats, scarves of concrete colors, foulards, flower handkerchiefs, specific footwear; they were also interested in agendas, calendars, some notebooks, some notes, notes between the pages of books, computers, hard drives, memory cards, usb, mobiles, cameras and video, CDs and DVDs, construction tools and, in particular, hammers; as well as stickers, patches and T-shirts of the brand M.A.L.P; posters and propaganda in relation to the counter-summit of the G20 2017.
       During the investigation, which has been ongoing since March 2017, they have intervened in emails, ordinary mail, mobile phones, tablets, whatsapp, icloud, dropbox and communications in general. For now, we do not have more information, since the investigation continues under summary secrecy.
        We were detained 32 hours and, although there were times when the situation was confusing and did not seem favorable, any sadness or fear became insignificant when we left and saw the support and solidarity we received from our friends and friends.
       Because even if the State comes for us, the ideas and practices that they pursue are irrepressible and multiply in every gesture of solidarity. And although we do not know what we are accused of, we are very clear about what we are and why we are being persecuted: and we do not ever regret being anarchists.
        Repression has always been on the lookout for those who fight but throughout our lives it has given us strength and encouragement to know that there were anarchists all over the world and people who shared our affinity and, living this in the first person and finding so many people, it has been very beautiful and meaningful for us.
      No anarchist will be alone as long as there are comrades who continue to fight.
        A hug to Embers, arrested on May 1 in Paris and still in prison along with many others. And to all the other anarchists and prisoners in struggle, we do not forget.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

ACE In May, Edinburgh.

        When in Edinburgh, visit ACE, (autonomous.org.uk ) there is sure to be something of interest going on, that's ACE for you. Here are some events during the merry month of May to get you chatting and acting.

Some Upcoming Events in Edinburgh

Information from the Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh
ACE Public Opening Times:
Every Tuesday 12:00 – 15:00
The last Thursday of each Month 18:00 – 20:00
The first Saturday of each month 13:00 – 16:00

Monday, 20 May 2019
Sisters Uncut Edinburgh - Open Meeting

       Sisters Uncut is holding a open planning meeting where we will be discussing upcoming actions and events and deciding where we want to take the group next. Come along and organise with us!
     Sisters Uncut is an intersectional, feminist group taking direct action to defend domestic and sexual violence services. We're organising information evenings, actions and reaching out to local communities.
       Meetings are open to all women (trans, intersex and cis) and all nonbinary, agender and gender variant people. All skills and experience levels very welcome - help us fight the violence of austerity.
18:30 - 20:30 at Autonomous Centre Edinburgh.
Link to facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/615424472272172/

Wednesday, 22 May 2019

Common Ground - Homeless-led Action & Advocacy

What rights do you have if you are homeless? Terrible conditions in the B&B – what can I do? Feeling isolated and don't know where to turn for support? Been there and done it, and want to help others who are experiencing homelessness?

speaking about and sharing your experiences
learning about homelessness rights and entitlements
challenging stigma and labelling
supporting each other and information-sharing
taking action together for positive change
Wednesdays from 14:00 – 16:30 at Autonomous Centre Edinburgh.
Sisters Uncut Edinburgh - Lessons from Scotland

     Sisters Uncut have organised a demostration outside the Scottish Parliament to coincide with MSP Joan McAlpine hosting transphobic blogger Meghan Murphy.
Gathering from 5pm with speakers starting from 5:15.
Link to facebook event page:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/events/2379727025638311/

      The event page includes detail of the Parliament protest code of conduct and Sisters Uncut's safer spaces policy.
Friday 24 May 2019

Edinburgh Youth Climate Strike
11am at the Meadows, marching to the Scottish Parliament
https://www.facebook.com/syclimatestrike/
Part of the global youth strike for climate, strikes Britain and world-wide
Advice for adult supporters
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LZiKSZP1CoYaTcBqPanEADDsZvxD_h7T/view

Weekly Strikes - every Friday
Contact: sandy@sycs.org.uk, dylan@sycs.org.uk or neelu@sycs.org.uk

Time: 11:00 - 13:00 Location: Outside Scottish Parliament, Horse Wynd, Edinburgh EH99 1SP

Sunday, 26 May 2019
Intro to Climate Colonialism

         From displacement to genocide, land clearances to build plantations and extract fossil fuels and other materials (and therefore slavery), from social Darwinism to mass disparity in resources in adapting to climate change. The origins of climate change are rooted in the origins of colonialism, and the impact of climate change plays out in the same way.
Workshop at St. Margaret's House
14:00 - 17:00
Tickets are pay what you can afford.
Link to facebook event page:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/events/2208778575872641/

Wednesday, 29 May 2019 Common Ground - Homeless-led Action & Advocacy

What rights do you have if you are homeless? Terrible conditions in the B&B – what can I do? Feeling isolated and don't know where to turn for support? Been there and done it, and want to help others who are experiencing homelessness?

Speaking about and sharing your experiences.                           Learning about homelessness rights and entitlements.           Challenging stigma and labelling.                                             Supporting each other and information-sharing.                             Taking action together for positive change.

Wednesdays from 14:00 – 16:30 at Autonomous Centre Edinburgh.

Thursday, 30 May 2019

ECAP Advocacy Stall
Solidarity with claimants.

       ECAP organises to combat poverty on the principle of solidarity and self-activity in communities and workplaces, actively rejecting influence by any political parties.
       We work and fight alongside individuals facing poverty related problems and oppressive behaviour from the authorities. We also conduct wider campaigns on specific issues using the same principles of solidarity and self-activity. High Riggs Jobcentre 10:00 - 11:30

Friday, 31 May 2019
      Nae Pasaran: Solidarity Benefit Gig for ACE and Edinburgh Antifa
Benefit for the Autonomous Centre Edinburgh & Edinburgh Antifa at the Argyle and Cellar Bar.
Doors at 7:30pm.
£6 waged, £4 unwaged, donation/ free if skint.

Featuring:
The Irresistible Urges
Loud South Ladies
Moving Statues
Euan Johnson
Link to facebook event page:
https://en-gb.facebook.com/events/498684344000198/

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Molendinar Burn And Glasgow.

      I have been out on the bike a few times recently, but haven't bothered to stop and take a photo. The reason being the runs are so embarrassingly short, a mere 10-15 miles, the 60+ to 90+ miles two or three times a week seem to be over. The weather hasn't been too kind to me, short spells of good weather and then a return to cold and showery. Since I am now a fair weather cyclist, that limits me quite a bit. Actually I no longer refer to myself as a cyclist, but more an old guy who goes out on his bike now and again.

     Today, despite the overcast sky and a bit of a cold wind, Stasia and I headed for Hogganfield Loch. A small loch to the east of Glasgow, a popular walking, cycling, dog walkers area and kids play area. It only measures approximately 1.3 miles going round the loch, but there are paths that you can deviate from the lochside and meander to change the scenery.

     Though a small loch, I suppose you could say that if it was not for this small loch, Glasgow may not have been the city it is. It is from Hogganfield Loch that the Molendinar Burn runs towards the Clyde, and it was on the banks of the Molendinar Burn that St Mungo set up his little Christian sanctuary, at the site where the Glasgow Cathedral now stands. This attracted people to the area and the rest is history as they say.

    Today the Molendinar Burn has all but disappeared, in the late 1800's it was contained in a culvert and now runs towards the Clyde somewhere under Wishart Street. Though there is still a small bit just about visible to the Gleswegians that want to have a wee look. At the west side of a fine looking building, 100 Duke Street there is a patch of trees and shrubs and through that growth there is a part of the Molendinar that is still open to the sky.

     The building 100 Duke Street started life as a rather ornate mill, belonging to R F and J Alexander, and is reputed to be the first building in Scotland that was built to be fire resistant. The mill and its workers disappeared as technology changed, and the building then became a home for homeless men, known as the Great Eastern Hotel. Now it is a "residential redevelopment", Still an impressive looking building. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk