Smokestack.

            Just received a poetry anthology from Smokestack Press, their latest book of poems called "Lightning" edited by Andy Croft, ISBN 978-1-8384653-2-2. It is compiled from the past issues of Smokestack poetry books. It has some powerful material and some soft and heart touching verse. As Maxine Peake states on the front cover, "Shows the vital power of poetry as a tool in our struggle, and a clarion call for change." I have selected two, not because I think they are the best, but just because they appeal to me personally.

Freedom.

The self-employed cycle couriers said
that this was the most freedom that they'd had
while holding down a full-time job
as they didn't have to bow, jump or lick the arse
of some suited up boss

the self-employed motorcycle couriers said
that this was the most freedom that they'd ever had
while holding down a full-time job
as they didn't have to bow, jump or lick the arse
of some suited-up boss

the self-employed van drivers said
that this was the most freedom that they'd ever had
while holding down a full-time job
as they didn't have to bow, jump or lick the arse
of some suited-up boss

and I think they all believed this
as they race through the streets at ridiculous speeds
dodging trucks, busses ,pedestrians,
evading death by millimetres
at least ten time a day
so that the parcels they were carrying
for that same suited-up boss
that they were glad not to work for
 arrived on time.

By Martin Hayes. 

On a roll.

You seem to be on a roll. So,
(while you're are at it) why not take out
Tunisia, Morocco, Syria,Egypt, Yemen,
Bahrain, civilised Saudi Arabia,

The Ukraine?

Why not take out Uganda, Rwanda,
Zimbabwe, Cuba, Venezuela,
The Ivory Coast? Why not take on
the whole damn planet (except, well,
the obvious...) ? while you're at it? Why not

invite them to high tea at No.10, form a club
for Democratic Despots and drizzle a little
diesel oil in the beverage of their choosing;
replace their scones with SCUDS and jam
with the bloods of their own freedom-fighting
millions? Hypocrisy is just so hip, darling! The
killer-coalition runs full-moons around liberty.

By Clare Saponia.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info     

No War.

          According to the various indexes, the world economy is not doing to well. Most reports are downgrading the economic growth of most countries from previous expectations. This doesn't please the big boys in the financial Mafia, and it seems obvious that they will reach for the big money option, the war button. Press that and you force governments to spend billions in the arms industry feeding into all those in the supply chain of the war machines across the globe. Corporations start to reap the benefits in profit and we the people pay for it in national debt and blood. No matter the desire from the financial Mafia, (IMF, World Bank, ECB, and the World Economic Forum,) we must pull together to demand that there is no war with Russia or any other large economic power block. all sold under the false flag of protecting democracy and freedom. The only freedom that the financial Mafia are interested in is their freedom to make as much profit as possible, no matter the consequences to the public at large.
         We can not stand idle by while they plot to get workers from one patch of the planet to kill workers from another part, under some phoney illusion that is all for our benefit and is a just and lawful war. When in fact it is all to do with economic growth, profit and power-bases, while filling the coffers of that small band of parasites that shape the world in which we live. Modern warfare stretches it vile fangs across cities and towns and their civilian population and does not confine itself to the so called battlefield. Our demands for "No War" must be loud, robust, persistent, on the streets and obvious, tied together with solidarity across all borders. Your sons and daughters blood may be that which is shed to jump start the world's economic growth. Don't sacrifice our youth for profit to the financial Mafia.

 

 

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

The Green.

Glasgow People's Palace and Winter Gardens before Council's re-imagining.

People's Palace Winter Gardens after Council re-imagining plans emerged.

         There has been a treasure on Glasgow Green for 124 years, it's called "the Peoples Palace and Winter Gardens. At the time of opening, one, Lord Rosebery, dedicated it to the people of Glasgow, for ever and ever. 124 years on and the Glasgow City Council have other ideas. Having let it fall into a state of disrepair, they pillaged its contents and shredded the wonderful winter garden's plants, leaving it a shell deteriorating before our eyes. They floated ideas such as re-imagining its use, which usually means turning it into a venue from which corporate bodies can make lots of money, and we the public would have to pay to use it for the purpose it was never intended.
          However, the good people of Glasgow see this as pillage and plunder of their assets, and are carrying on a campaign to have it restored and returned to its former use, a place displaying the history of the people of Glasgow and the Winter Gardens a place of pleasure for all, free of charge, as it was intended and dedicated to all those 124 years ago. Let's get behind this campaign and bring the Glasgow Council to their senses, making them realise, they are there to protect and mange our public assets, not to dispose of them, and we the public pay their wages and expenses, and very generously at that.
       On Saturday, 22nd. January, the Friends of People's Palace, Winter Gardens and Glasgow Green, held a protest, one of many, outside the Winter Gardens. We need to swell the numbers taking part in this worthwhile campaign. It is a fight for that which is ours, it's our People's Palace and Winter Gardens, we want it back to what it was, no re-imagining.

Save the People's Palace Winter Gardens and Glasgow Green contacts:

https://www.friendsofppwggg.org.uk/

 https://www.friendsofppwggg.org.uk/about/

https://www.facebook.com/Friends-of-Peoples-Palace-Winter-Gardens-Glasgow-Green-100373718106010/

Some photos from Saturday's protest.

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Our Media.

         Most aware people see the media as a mouthpiece for the state and big business, yet turn to it for "news". The fact that it does the bidding of big money and the establishment, somehow is overlooked, and the unverified hand-out often is taken as fact that starts to mould public opinion in the direction of state/corporate desire. The media on the whole accepts the establishment's hand out, no real scrutiny, research, or analysis, where does that leave democracy, in the dust bin of course. According to established power, wealth and privilege, public opinion is there to be shaped to their advantage, not to be considered when shaping society. We the public must make our own media, based on evidence, critical analysis and an aim to improve the life of all on this planet, free from authority and profit motive. 

The following is an extract from an article by Caitlin Johnstone:

— Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) Januara 14, 2022

        None of this is to say that every theory about any false flag operation is true; many are not. But the way the mass media will instantly embrace an idea to which they’ve heretofore been consistently hostile just because their government told them to to do it says so much about the state of the so-called free press today, and the fact that the rank-and-file public simply accepts this and marches along with it as though talking about false flags has always been normal says so much about the level of Orwellian doublethink that people have been trained to perform in today’s information ecosystem. The way false flag operations were widely considered conspiratorial hogwash until the instant they were reported as real by the media institutions who’ve lied to us about every war is downright creepy.
      The problem with preemptive false flag accusations is of course that the side making the claim can simply launch an unprovoked attack and then say “See? They’re staging a false flag to frame our side, just like we said they would!” And then they can present their subsequent actions as defensive in nature, when in reality they were the aggressors and instigators. We are seeing nothing from the obedient western news media to suggest they’d do anything other than uncritically regurgitate such claims into the minds of their trusting audiences.
     As the Beltway doctrine that US unipolar hegemony must be preserved at all cost crashes headlong into the reality of an emerging multipolar world, the US government is now more dangerous than it has ever been at any point in its history. We need the press to be holding the drivers of empire to account with the light of truth, and we need the public to be opposing and scrutinizing these reckless escalations. Instead, we are getting the exact opposite. God help us all.

 

Read the full article HERE: 

 

 

 

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

Solidarity.

           An appeal for solidarity and support for arrested union representatives. In certain circumstances, under this economic system of corporate capitalism, organising to get your employer to negotiate with you can be extremely dangerous. You could face harassment, beatings, arrest, imprisonment and sometimes death, as the state will always take the side of the business brigade. We can't rely on the so called laws of the land and justice, these two prongs of the state are there to protect power, wealth and privilege for the parasitical few.

 

The following from Labour Start:

A month ago, workers at NagaWorld casino hotel in Cambodia went on strike. They demanded that the management engage in good faith negotiations over the forced mass redundancy of over 1,300 workers.  Many of those workers were left destitute. Instead of talking to the union, police began arresting workers and union leaders. Two weeks ago, the union president was violently arrested on the picket line by plain clothes police.          Other union leaders were also arrested. At the moment, 8 union leaders are currently in detention.  They are all charged with incitement offences under the Criminal Code, which carry a sentence of up to 5 years imprisonment.         They are being denied access to legal representation.         The Director General of the International Labour Organisation has already expressed deep concern over the arrests and has called for the immediate release of those arrested. And now the International Union of Foodworkers (IUF) has launched an online campaign demanding that the union leaders be released from jail and the charges dropped.        Please take a moment to show your support for these brave workers, and to demand justice - click here. And please share this message with your friends, family and fellow union members. Thank you! Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Google!

            Millions of people use Google Maps, your friendly find the way companion. However, like all large corporations Google tend to work hand and glove with powers that be. With Google's advance technology, it has now become much more sinister and a tool for the state and its various appendages. Apart from the total surveillance in our towns and cities, cameras in pubs, shops, shopping malls, bus and train station etc., we now have the Google giant capturing your every movement, and making it all available to the state and and its various tentacles. From the sky, from the lamppost, from the corner of a building, from the road, you are being filmed, photographed and logged to assist the state with its endless desire for total control over the population. How do we recover our right to privacy and to roam without being photographed, logged and profiled without your prior consent?

The following from Act For Freedom Now:
    

 

          A mafia boss was arrested in Spain in December after 20 years on the wanted list after Italian anti-mafia cops used Google Street View to confirm their ‘traditional methods’ which led to information that he was running a hairdressing salon, a restaurant and a grocery shop in Galapagar, Spain. To his “How did you find me? It’s been ten years since I even called my family on the phone.” “We saw you on Google Maps”, was the reply.

 

 Read the full article HERE:

 

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

Youth.

            If anything positive can be taken from the climate emergency, it's the fact that so many young people have taken to criticising the present economic system. The young have grasped the need to take action on the streets, form groups and challenge the government on its complete failure to address these problems. there are thousands more young people now interest in politics and acting on that, than there was before the climate emergence gripped the headlines. All us old campaigners and activist can do, is join with them and offer our experience if they want it, but we shouldn't give up the streets, that's where the changes needed will come from, not from the corridors of power and privilege, they are the problem. Thanks Bob for the links.

The Biologist values and jobs
https://youtu.be/7X0swpc_05o
Metropolitan - Police Scotland - Same Difference  

Climate Justice Solidarity
 

Anti Racism Migrant Communities And The State  

Pension Funds and Fossil fuels
https://youtu.be/BI4QMX_CXTQ

Climate Scientist - Career Change to Climate Change
https://youtu.be/qOSns-hkhP4
 

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

Signal.

          I'm always surprised at the number of activists who still use vacuum information sucking F/B WhatsApp, when there is an excellent free encrypted message system that happens to be on our side. I am of course talking about "Signal", the messaging system that I try to get those I know to switch to, from the usual data gathering popular system. That simple change would make your communications practically useless to prying eyes, data gathering organisations, state and otherwise
         Perhaps the following article might convince a few more to abandon the popular Facebook, WhatsApp data grabbing message systems for a free, secure and simple to use friendly system, Signal.

This from It's Going Down: 

  

         Technical discourse almost always generates an odd sort of distortion when it collides with life outside of disciplinary separations. This is very much the case when it comes to radicals and information security. Communications, computer science and cryptography are highly complex, to the point that even people working in the security industry full time have difficulty grasping the complexities from time to time. As we saw with the Snowden leaks, the combination of highly complex technical content and the possibility of danger in the form of surveillance, tended to generate a discourse grounded in hyperbole and conspiracizing. This approach often led people to either attempt to completely go dark, or to modify their practices base on false, misconstrued or misunderstood information.

         Over the past series of years this phenomenon has emerged in relation to Signal and Tor, very specifically. Without getting too into the technical elements of each, we can definitively say that the conspiracies about weak encryption, protocols being “broken,” secret government backdoors and so on are commonly held, but ultimately damaging and false arguments. This tendency is gaining traction and accelerating in relation to Moxie Marlinspike leaving Signal.

Well worth reading the full article HERE: 

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

KTB Anger.

KILL THE BILL.

            In the UK, January 15th. 2022 was marked by protests across the country as people in towns and cities took to the streets to voice their anger. Righteous anger at a Boris Johnson sidekick Priti Patel, would be fascist, with a burning desire and plans to lead a totalitarian government. Her crime and punishment bill, is the biggest step the UK is preparing to take into that world of total control over the population. Protesting will be virtually impossible under this new legislation. any noisy gathering, any inconvenience to commerce, any annoyance perceived by someone, could see you arrested No matter how they dress this legislation up, its intentions are to stop protests to get you off the streets and to silently and submissively accept what the powers that be throw at you. Protest is not a crime, nor a privilege to be granted by our lords and masters, protest is our democratic right and we must defend this, or see it taken from us. It is easier to fight to hold what you have, than to try to fight to get back what has been taken from you. Make no mistake, this bill takes the few shreds of democracy we have, trashes them for as long as the legislation stands. 

Some photos from Glasgow's George Square,15th. Jan. 2022.

Central London

Liverpool.

Manchester.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info