Insanity.

        Writing about what has gone wrong in this world is easy. We could start locally, the rising child poverty in the UK, increasing hardship on families due to rocketing mortgages, and food prices, the increase in homelessness, and rough sleeping, the collapsing health system by government agenda, to drive it in to the hands of large corporations to let them make millions for the suffering of ordinary people, the crumbling education system. All of these are a brutal indictment of a system that has miserable failed to see to the needs of people of this country.
        However, all this fades into insignificance when we look at what the American empire and its cronies are doing in supporting the genocide taking place in Gaza under the the hands of the psychopathic Zionist nutcases sitting in the Israeli government. A deranged bunch of insane religious headbangers who believe they are special, the chosen people and have the right to ethnic cleanse the country of Palestine because their wee mythical man in the sky gave them this land more than 2,000 years ago. Insanity and religious fantasy as government policy. What is more shocking, that the leaders of the so called developed West go along with this savage insanity. Instead of their humanity, which they all seem to lack, instead of calling for a ceasefire to this brutal genocide, they bleat on about more humanitarian aid instead of a ceasefire, WHY, do they believe that the Palestinians must be well fed and looked after before they are slaughtered?

Image courtesy of North Jersey

 

 

        Over 21,000 civilians killed in less than three months, more than half of them children. Will those who are against a ceasefire, please explain how this can be, in all humanity be acceptable. Those orchestrating this bloody genocide and those supporting it, must be held to account and soon if humanity has a chance of survival in this troubled world. 

 

An extract for an interesting article by Caitlin Johnstone in conjunction with her husband Tim Foley. 

        There’s a single news story about international conflicts which keeps repeating itself again and again in different iterations, and that story is this: “US-centralized empire fights to secure domination of planet Earth, and some populations resist this.”
           You’re seeing this story with Hamas, Hezbollah and Ansarallah today. That’s what you’ve been seeing with all the standoffs with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. That’s what you see when the US-centralized power structure terrorizes nations in Latin America like Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
           It’s a giant empire attacking nations who have the temerity to insist on their own national sovereignty rather than being absorbed into the imperial blob. It uses full-scale wars, proxy conflicts, starvation sanctions and blockades, drone wars, CIA coups and deliberately fomented color revolutions to subvert any government which defies the US agenda of securing total planetary domination.
       If you can understand this, you can understand pretty much any major international conflict in modern times.

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Archives.

         

           

          Anarchist archives, libraries and bookshops are an important and integral part of anarchism. If we don't record our own history it will disappear and the next generation will have no idea it ever happened. Orwell once stated that the best way to destroy a people was to destroy their history, we should always be wary of that fact. Anarchist archives, libraries and bookshops are our quiet information centres, there for all to see, browse and learn from. Scotland is fortunate that it has Spirit of Revolt Archives of dissent, probably the largest anarchist libertarian socialist archive in Scotland. In England we have The Sparrows Nest, Tyneside Anarchist Archive, and May Day Rooms, all valuable assets of the anarchist world. They say loud and clear, we were here yesterday and we are still here today, and these are our ideas and actions. I believe all anarchist should support these groups for the work they do to further anarchist ideas and preserve our history. So if you like what they are doing, why not support them, buy the a cup of coffee now and again, it would be much appreciated and it would help preserve and enlarge our rich and vibrant history. 

      Support our Anarchist Archives and libraries by a small donation.

             No doubt there are other anarchist archives and libraries seek them out in your area and support them, let's not forget Kate Sharpley.

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Disabled rip off.

 

 

                                               Image courtesy of The Times.

         Interested in finding out how the disabled are being ripped off. A friend of mine who uses an electric wheelchair had a problem with its battery. A simple problem, the connector on the battery that attaches to the power lead to charge the battery had fallen inside, so he couldn't charge the battery. First stop, Mobility Scotland, Hawthorn St. Glasgow. Rather cold and silent environment. asked about repair and they said "Yes". Enquiring about how long would it take, was informed that there are 18 in front of his repair and it could take about 5 weeks. A long time to go without your wheel chair, unless you are prepared to buy a spare battery. Asked about the cost. £60 to book it in, £50 per hour to asses the repair, $50 per hour to do the repair, plus any parts that might be needed. My friend left with his battery. Phoned the company that makes his chair and they recommend a place in Paisley called AbleWorld. Went there and was welcomed with a cheery and informative assistant. Asked about the repair, and they said, it doesn't look  to difficult and would probably cost around £10. There were 5 repairs in front and could take a week but since it seems a simple repair the engineer might slip it in when he can. He left the battery and two days later got a call to say that its ready, they had to fit a new part and the cost would be £20. Who do you think is ripping off disabled people? Now my advice to any wheelchair users, electric or other wise is to head to AbleWorld in Paisley for a welcoming reasonable priced conclusion to their problem.  https://paisley.ableworld.co.uk/  

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Memories.

 

   

              One thing the political ballerinas that frequent those Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, seem to forget, is that old people have memories, the older, the more memories. As I approach my 90th birthday, I was born in a room and kitchen, 294 Charles street in 1934, in the slum then known as Garngad, or "the good and the bad". I don't remember much about the Garngad, I left when I was 5 and we were moved to what was know as the "slum clearances". However I remember my mother's stories of those days in the 30s. How the word would go round the district the the "Means Test" men were in the area. As soon as she heard that, if she had a loaf of bread she would half it and hide half and some other bits of food, or she could be questioned as to how she could have a loaf of bread mid week, was she as poor as she was claiming. Her brother, my uncle Willie, long term unemployed, would visit her for a chat and a cup of tea. As soon as it was know the "Means Test" men were in the area, she would usher him out the door, wash his cup and put it away. Otherwise the questioning would be, "was he paying as a lodger" if she could feed him, was she as poor as she was claiming and her benefit could be cut. The deprivation and injustice of the 30s are well documented.

                                                         Image courtesy of BBC

            One of my earliest memories from our new home top flat in a tenement in Avonspark Street, is from the early 40s, I remember looking out our "living room" window, which over looked the large estate called Barronhill, it was run as a poorshouse for men. I would watch as individuals in their conspicuous grey parish suit, yes we used to give the homeless men a suit, a rough course material not meant for comfort or style, but to last, and that was during WW2. as they walked aimlessly round the path which surrounded a large green, never in pairs, always individually. They moved slowly, never moved their arms, they just hung by their sides or in their pocket, the head was usually dropped forward. Perhaps trying to remember, or trying to forget. I felt it a very sad sight.

Image courtesy of Guardian.

         They closed the poorhouses but they didn't get rid of the poor. they abandoned them to charities. Charities are always a sign that society has failed. I would ask any of those hypocritical political ballerinas to state a year when we had no rough sleepers, no homelessness, no child poverty, no families blow the poverty line, and they would need to lie or admit there were no such years. I know that the Braveman faction of the fascist wing of the Tory party, refer to rough sleeping as a life choice, with their usual callous indifference to other people's suffering.

                                                    Image courtesy of Guardian.

            Here we are in 2023, and child poverty is rising, homelessness is rising, rough sleeping is rising, families living in poverty is rising. Anyone with a grain if rationalism, or even a shred of humanity, must come to the conclusion that the present system of economics has been an abysmal failure to see to the needs of the ordinary people. 

 

                                                        Image courtesy of Digg.

           Further proof of this disregard for the ordinary people, if it was needed, would be the so called "Autumn Statement", Where the political charlatans spoke of growing the economy to make us all well-off. So they plundered the public purse of billions of our tax payers money and handed it to big businesses, to "grow the economy". The only growth we will see is in shareholders bonuses, CEO bonuses and salaries and business profits, it may create a few more jobs. Of course luxury yacht makers and makers of large limousines will also do very well. That was a political choice, they could have chosen to put those billions of tax payers money into social service, NHS and education, in this insane economic illusion, that according to the right wing political ballerinas would have been creating a nanny state, much better it give our money to their cronies in big business, of course don't expect anything different from the so called Labour side of this con-trick. Why do we tolerate this continual shafting of the ordinary people by a small minority for the benefit of the very rich and powerful few. Perhaps we should remember that we the ordinary people create every nut and bolt, every piece of wealth on the planet, and we have the power to change this economic insanity to a fair and just system that see to the needs of all our people. But when? Rebel, resist, think anarchism.

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1787.

           Spirit of Revolt Archive has organised a series of free events all taking place at the CCA 350 Sauchiehall Street Glasgow. The next one up is 6:00pm December 7th. It is a talk/discussion: STRIKES - 1787 The Strike of the Glasgow Weavers talk by Elspeth King plus IWW Union organiser current events, followed by an open discussion. All welcome.

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Copout 28.

 

Image courtesy of Independent.

       

DUBAI (Reuters) – A member of the main advisory board of the COP28 climate summit resigned on Friday over reports that the UAE presidency used the meeting to secure new oil, gas deals, according to her resignation letter seen by Reuters.
          Hilda Heine, former president of the low-lying, climate vulnerable Marshall Islands, said reports that the UAE planned to discuss possible natural gas and other commercial deals ahead of U.N. climate talks were “deeply disappointing” and threatened to undermine the credibility of the multilateral negotiation process.
         “These actions undermine the integrity of the COP presidency and the process as a whole,” Heine wrote in the letter she sent to COP President Sultan al-Jaber.
           She added that the only way for Jaber to restore trust in the process was to “deliver an outcome that demonstrates that you are committed to phasing out fossil fuels.”

 

                                               Image courtesy of Indulge Express.

        

             Why do I think Cop 28 is a farce? Well the report quoted above is just one of the reasons, and then there is the report that the one that holds the presidency of the Cop pantomime UAE is organising to ramp up oil production. It starts to make you wonder what they are all there for. Then of course there is our UK duo pantomime act, Sunak and King Charles. Our so dedicated to reducing our carbon footprint, King Charles,whose personal footprint is probably larger than a small village. All those lavish residencies and gardens, all being heated and maintained by an army of servants. His more personal residence fed by an extensive army of servants, cooks and other types of staff. Then there is is army of security and its cavalcade of black limousines that follow him everywhere. All to pander to one man who claims he thinks we need to take climate change more seriously. He could start by moving into a mid terrace house and look after himself and of course get a job in renewable energy. Then we have our £700 million Prime Minister, Sunak, who claims he is leading the green energy charge while merrily throwing out more licences for drilling more oil wells in the North Sea.
          Most of all those in attendance at this lavish pantomime live lives of opulence and they fail to see that they are the problem, and are never going to do anything that might in any way damage that lifestyle. We, the ordinary people will have to, not demand change but to be the agents of change, we can't rely on the rich and powerful, to save life on our planet they have too much to lose. 

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Wake Up.

 

  An extract from an article by Caitlin Johnstone.

          

              I’ve been amazed at how much I’ve been sleeping since the ceasefire started; that’s why I haven’t been writing as much. I guess spending weeks staring at unbelievable horrors unfolding on your screen can be pretty hard on your system if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, so my body’s been resting up as much as it can while there’s an opportunity.
            And I’m just here watching this all unfold safely from my home in Melbourne. I cannot imagine what it’s like to be living in the midst of this horror for the last two months, trying to figure out the best way to survive while also grieving the family, friends and neighbors you’re losing along the way. These people have all been deeply traumatized in ways that will haunt them for the rest of their lives, if they survive the violence, disease and deprivation that’s to come.
This thing is so astonishingly ugly, and it could get a whole lot uglier after the ceasefire ends. If there’s anything positive to be found in this living nightmare, it’s that it’s so earth-shakingly ugly that it just might shake the world awake.

                 But will it shake the world awake? I doubt it, it has already shaken vast swaths of the general public awake and they have taken to the streets, but as for the power/war mongers with the reins of power, that's a different story. These blind to suffering power/war mangers have a different agenda and will play the situation like a game of cards, seeking an outcome that is to their advantage, irrespective of the suffering and bloody genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. We have evolved into a system where suffering and death of ordinary people is acceptable  to meet the ends of the powers that be.

Image courtesy of Islamic Relief South Africa.

 

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Horse's Mouth.

 

          Strange words, but welcome, from an Israeli soldier. You wonder when that trait called humanity will enter the psyche of the majority of the Jewish population in Israel. It is sad to see almost an entire population so steeped in hate all based on an illusion that they are special and their wee man in sky gave them this land more than 2,000 years ago.

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Anti-Racism.

          A little bit late with this, but it is always good to see the enthusiasm and the colourful banners. Glasgow's anti-racist march on Saturday 25th November was as usual a very colourful affair. Marching from Glasgow Green to George Square it made a powerful statement, that Glasgow stands against racism in any shape or form. When you consider the series of very large ceasefire in Gaza marches that have taken place across the country, there is no doubt where our values lie. Let's strengthen that stand of anti-racism and peace. Enjoy the images from the anti-racism march.

 

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Dedicated.

            How the state treats those who would change society for the better for all. Reject the status quo and fight for a fairer and just society and you will feel the full weight of the state's loaded judicial system. The following from Act for Freedom Now.

Text by Anarchist Pola Roupa: November 17, 2023. 50 years from the Polytechnic and my release from prison

          

            “After 7 years of consecutive imprisonment (from the arrest of 5th January, 2017), 8.5 years together with pre-trial detention (arrested on 10/4/2010) and 13 years and 6 months in total, sentence I served for my participation in Revolutionary Struggle, I have been released. The symbolism of the day was strong as this year’s November 17th marks the 50th anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising of 1973. On that day, everyone remembers the dead of the Polytechnic but also all those who have fallen in the struggle for freedom.
          For me, this day was dominated by the memory of our comrade killed in the activity of Revolutionary Struggle, Lambros Fountas. But in my thoughts is also the comrade Nikos Maziotis who, despite the fact that he has served 11 years’ “closed” prison and 14 years in a mixed prison – a very long period for a 20-year sentence -, the judicial councils of Lamia are refusing to release him. It is now clear that a unique status of exception has been imposed on Nikos Maziotis, as no prisoner in a similar situation (with charges based on 187A) and with a similar sentence (i.e. not a life sentence) has remained in prison for such a long period of time. This exceptional regime based on political criteria and motives and which in practice nullifies the institution of parole – which according to the law is mandatory and not “gratuitous”, given that it is not left to the personal will of the respective judge – this exemption regime must come to an end. In addition to the flagrant violation of his rights, this special regime of exception is reminiscent of a junta-style treatment of a political prisoner.

 

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