Springburn, Left To Rot!!

 Springburn Public Halls, left to rot before being knocked down.

       Well, well, poor old Springburn and the North of Glasgow. It seems that our city fathers, at Kremlin in George Square, don't know that our fair city has a North End. In their gigantic tax funded, corporate extravaganza, The Corporatewealth Games, they stated that it was for all the city. I have just received their latest glossy Glasgow Magazine, and being a Springburn man, I had a wee look to see how it would impact on my part of the city, but it seems the city fathers don't know where Springburn is, or perhaps they think it is outside our city, hence the lack of interest.

 Springburn Park winter gardens, yep, left to rot.

      The East End has a time trial running through it to the city centre. The Southside, has a marathon running through it to the city centre. The West End has a road race running through it to the city centre. There are games venues in the East End, the Southside, and the West End, and "live zones" in the East, the city centre, the Southside and the West End. Their wee map is festoon with little symbols indicating Glasgow Landmarks, but nothing in the North side of the city. as far as this piece of corporate plunder is concerned, Springburn is a wasteland, not worth pilfering. Our call to fame in Springburn is our poverty and deprivation, we have the country's worst child poverty and the highest number of request for child care orders. Having "cleansed" the East End of peasants, perhaps they thought that the cost of doing likewise in the North was a cost too far. At least the transport should run as normal in the North of the city. You could visit Springburn every day and not even know there was such a "Greatest Show on Earth" corporate extravaganza going on in our fair soon to be bankrupted city.

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

One Day All The Lies Will Collapse----.

        Another interesting and informative article from Glasgow Games Monitor 2014. This one is on, the pie-in-the-sky, "legacy" of the games. The magic phrase that is supposed to make you think that, all that public money being handed over to the corporate world, is actually for your benefit. After the "greatest show on earth" moves on, we will have a wonderful "Legacy". As Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda master said, "The bigger the lie, the more it will be believed". However, even he knew it must all come crashing down.

   From the Games Monitor article:

     However, we argue that ‘legacy’ claims are one of the primary means to legitimise, and deflect attention from, massive public expenditure on Games events. This expenditure on urban spectacle is almost always for the benefit of business; the bread and circuses of the spectacle is a great way of alienating people from the exploitative realities of land-grabbing, displacement, and gentrification. Glasgow City Council Leader, Gordon Matheson, intends to sell “two weeks of magic” to an increasingly suspicious public.

Read the full article HERE:

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

East End Injustice.

       Glasgow East End residents got an opportunity, (at last) to voice their anger, (perhaps I should say "righteous anger") at the treatment the have and are receiving, as the council steamrolls a path for big money to make a killing, in what is called, The Commonwealth Games 2014.

This from Glasgow Games Monitor 2014:

      1.  Very interesting 'Angry Games Residents Meeting' last night: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2014/05/28/residents-vent-games-anger-at-packed-meeting/

       2. We meet next at 6.30pm-8.30 pm, Monday 2nd June at UNITE the Union offices, John Smith House, 145/165 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4RZ. All welcome! http://gamesmonitor2014.org/meetings/

    3. Event challenging stigma in the East End, 5.30, Thursday (tomorrow) 29th May, Parkhead Library (Community Meeting Hall), 64 Tollcross Road, G31 4XA: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2014/05/28/event-beyond-stigma-exploring-everyday-lives-in-the-east-end-of-glasgow-and-the-cwg2014%e2%80%8f/ Cheers,http://gamesmonitor2014.org/ 

Also from Glasgow Games Monitor:

   This event tomorrow night may be of interest to people in the East End especially... Beyond Stigma: Exploring Everyday lives in the East End of Glasgow and the CWG2014 The East End of Glasgow has had a lot of negative media and political commentary attached to it. With your help, we want to explore the lives and promote the voice of people actually living in the East End of Glasgow. We are looking for people to keep diaries of their thoughts and experiences throughout the Commonwealth Games 2014 and beyond. To be involved, please come to our community meeting at:Parkhead Library (in the Community Meeting hall)Thursday 29th May 2014 at 5.30pm64 Tollcross Road, G31 4XA If you would like to be involved, or want more information please contact Vikki McCall.Phone: 01786 467698; e-mail: vikki.mccall@stir.ac.uk 

       More about the Project… We seek to explore the impact of territorial stigmatisation on the people that live in the East End of Glasgow in the context of the Commonwealth Games 2014 and other social and economic changes that are impacting on the city.The 2014 Commonwealth Games sets out ‘Glasgow’s ambition… for a meaningful legacy that will go beyond 2014 and will benefit everyone’. Yet beneath the fanfaring, there is little supportive evidence that mega sporting events can achieve the aims set out by local government. Further still, this regeneration initiative was envisaged in different set of economic and political conditions.The City of Glasgow has the highest number of people living in conditions of multiple deprivation and the East End in particular is subject to negative media and political discourse and stigmatisation. Those living in the East End of Glasgow will have a certain level of awareness of these discourses and are also actors in negotiating the process of stigmatisation as well as living with the consequences of it. But how exactly are such discourses being received and experienced in the East End? Do they create further material inequalities?     How do stigmatizing narratives and structural inequalities coalesce? In asking these questions, this research will examine the relationship between territorial stigmatisation and gentrification/regeneration. 

        It will explore the material underpinning of narratives of lack which devalue and/or valorize neighbourhoods and people of those places. It will compare these narratives to the everyday lived realities of Glasgow’s East Enders. Who is involved… The project is led by Dr Gerry Mooney, from the Open University in Scotland.The project is being managed by Dr Vikki McCall, from the University of Stirling. Vikki lives in the East End of Glasgow and is on the Board of Parkhead Housing Association. Please feel free to tweet @vikki_mccalland Dr Kirsteen Paton from the University of Leeds. 

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

Glasgow Games Monitor.

 Glasgow City Council's plans for our city.

Info from Glasgow Games Monitor 2014:

Hi all,

      We have now booked a room in the city centre for regular monthly meetings in the run up the Games. The meetings are open to all and everyone on this list is welcome to come along and get involved. Lot's to be done! We also have two re-posts of some very sharp and funny analyses from the 'A Thousand Flowers' blog related to the Commonwealth Games - more like this please! 1. Next Meeting: 7-9pm. Monday 3rd February, Unite the Union offices, John Smith House, 145/165 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4RZ. Meeting Dates: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/meetings/Contact: gamesmonitor2014@googlemail.com 2. Whose City? Are the Commonwealth Games Ruining Glasgow? (A Thousand Flowers):http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2014/01/28/whose-city-are-the-commonwealth-games-ruining-glasgow/ 3. Whatever Happened to the East End Subway Extension? (A Thousand Flowers):http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2014/01/28/whatever-happened-to-the-east-end-subway-extension/ Cheers,http://gamesmonitor2014.org/

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

Petition, ATOS Kills.

     Petition:- Glasgow 2014 Ltd Organising Committee: Drop ATOS as a sponsor for the 2014 Commonwealth Games

        Glasgow Games Monitor have recently created petitions on 38 Degrees and Change.org calling for ATOS to be dropped as a Commonwealth Games sponsor.

The Change.org petition is live and if you agree with it please sign it – you can pass this link on to promote it as well:

https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/glasgow-2014-ltd-organising-committee-drop-atos-as-a-sponsor-for-the-2014-commonwealth-games

     The 38 Degrees system is more complicated and we have to get a critical mass of people to agree to the campaign before they start running it. Please vote to help us get the campaign going on 38 degrees as well, if you have any suggestions or comments feel free to list them on the 38 degrees site:

http://38degrees.uservoice.com/forums/78585-campaign-suggestions/suggestions/5196813-atos-unfit-for-2014-commonwealth-games

     For background information view some of our previous posts relating to this campaign here and here.

Best wishes,

Glasgow Games Monitor

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