Co-ordinated State Repression, A Sign Of Their Weakness.

      Repression against anarchists by the various states, is nothing new, but what we can say is in recent years the various states have increased this repression. From America, to Indonesia, from Russia to Europe, there appears to be a more co-ordinated attack on anarchist individuals and groups. We can take it that the more severe the repression, is a sign that the various states feel more threatened and vulnerable. All the more reason to increase our presence by increased actions and literature, to bring awareness of anarchism to an ever widening section of the public at large.

 

Mass repression in Russia against anarchists
From naroborona.info

      During the last six months in Russia there have been mass repressions against anarchists – in Penza and Petersburg, Moscow and Chelyabinsk, and in the Crimea. At the same time, in prisons there are still anarchists, repressed earlier, a few years ago. Often, information about repressions against certain anarchists is lost against the background of more high-profile cases, and actions against repression are reduced to actions for the release of specific anarchists accused of individual cases. We believe that this is wrong – you can resist repression only together. It is necessary to fight against the repressive policy of the state towards anarchists in general. Therefore, we have collected here information about all Russian anarchists being repressed today. Read the rest of this entry »

Armed political police attack an informal anarchist gathering in Belarus

         Several people were charged with illegal usage of forest resources and distribution of extremist materials after political police with support of task forces attacked an informal anarchist encounter. Around 20 participants were at the camping site at that point.

         On Saturday 30 June special task force of police attacked the camp shooting into the air. After a few minutes all the activists were forced on the ground by a crowd of people armed with machine guns and shotguns. They were accompanied by chiefs in plain clothes but wearing masks. When anarchists started asking about the reasons for this circus one of the cops said that they had a report that somebody was illegally cutting trees in the area and shooting in the forest. Other cops were answering, “you are not stupid, you understand yourself why you are here”.

       Tents were searched for illegal materials. Merchandise from several groups was confiscated under the pretext of distribution of extremist materials. All activists were put on their knees and filmed by the cops. Read the rest of this entry »

Concerning the Recent Raids across Europe

           The ongoing repression linked to last year's G20 summit in Hamburg has not been much discussed outside of Europe. Mobilizations against global bodies like the G20 are international traditions (whether or not we consider them to be wise), beyond the sense of international that exists in Europe where borders are less stark. These summits exist as heightened moments of repression that shift around globally, providing local police forces and their masters with enormously enhanced resources to crush anarchists, non-electoral leftists, and others who persistently oppose them locally. The G20 as a policing operation is carried out by different police forces around the world, but the phenomenon is international in scope and recognizing it is a necessary first step in linking our struggle through solidarity. Read the rest of this entry

Solidarity with Ucil – imprisoned anarchist comrade Brian Valentino (Indonesia)

           Our comrade Brian Valentino is being held in Polda prison Yogyakarta, the main police headquarter of Yogyakarta (special feudal region within Central Java territory)

          Since the day of his arrest, May 1st until May 16th 2018, our comrade, who were beaten and tortured, have been denied of his rights for legal advocate or lawyer. Ever since he was arrested it’s already 15 days of interrogation without the company of a lawyer or advocate.The police or the legal aid haven’t gave us a clear reason about this, therefore we are not sure that whether the police or the legal advocate who refuse to help him.

        To be clear, we received information from Brian Valentino’s dad who have just visited him after a week and he make sure that Brian was the only of the arrestees who haven’t given any legal aid for 15 days since arrest.

       Therefore we urge to the comrades national and international to strengthen solidarity with Brian Valentino, our dear anarchist friend, who have been refused of his rights for legal aid. We are not limiting the solidarity, it can be legal or whatever. Read the rest of this entry »

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

Platitudes and Hypocrisy, The State's Contribution.

 

        Doesn’t it strike you as rather hypocritical that the state can move to open up shelters and facilities for all those threatened with possible flooding, but is hell bent on ignoring the thousands that are homeless across the country, even as the temperature plummets, we don’t hear of the state organising local communities to open up shelter and facilities for these vulnerable and suffering people. According to the organisation Shelter, there are approximately 16,000 homeless in the South East of England alone, and this pattern rolls out across the entire country in varying degrees. Of course this is happening on an apocalyptic scale across Europe, as those hundreds of thousands of migrants, fleeing war, death, misery, torture and deprivation, find themselves bedding down in tents covered in snow or huddle together in any closed or semi-closed place they can find. We are talking about men, women, children, and elderly, this is the true face of “civilised”, rich, capitalist Europe.

            This vast army of homeless, traumatised, fleeing individuals, and families are trapped in pockets across the continent, and for months, according to the babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, they have been invisible. However, now for what ever reason, their plight is making the news again, we are seeing them huddle together, and in one journalist’s photo opportunity, saw them burning railway sleepers to try to keep warm. What will come of this sudden thrusting of their misery onto the headlines? Well going on past records, nothing,

           They will be dropped and the new headlines will be of some celebrity’s latest “scandal”, talk of the stock exchange, of how sales are up or down, and the latest on the Queen’s cold. That vast army of weary, wandering, traumatised fleeing people will once again become invisible, and calm will be returned to the “civilised” continent of Europe. Europe is rich in all manner of resources, it has cesspools filled with money, it has an abundance of skills, it is awash with wealth, well capable of resolving the “migrants” situation with humanity and dignity, but this will not happen. The overpowering out pouring from the various states across capitalist Europe is hypocrisy, it is the only answer they have to the problems of the ordinary people. If we keep the same system, we will be cursed with the same answers.

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

No One Is Coming To Help Us!!

 

         I have not said much about the Trump affair, as it is difficult to grasp what has happened and why. One thing we can be sure of, there is a emboldened and growing far right, not just in America, but here in the UK and across Europe. We can debate the reasons why and come to different conclusions, but what we can't do is ignore this rise. To me it seems obvious that the people would be come disenchanted with the system, as it was never intended to see to their needs in the first place. The problem seems to be that in looking for answers, people have not picked up our ideas, we have to ask ourselves, why not? Resolving that question would be a good place to start. 

       We will have to find answers in our communities  and to a degree do what the far right is doing, tap into that anger and disenchantment. The following extracts are from an interesting article by First of May Anarchist Alliance

       The surprise victory of Donald Trump this past Tuesday has quickly presented people in this country (and around the world) with a vastly different political landscape than we had expected. We are seeing a rise in right-wing attacks as the far right is emboldened by the victory, much like what happened earlier this year after the success of the Brexit referendum in the UK. The incompetence and capitulation of the Democratic Party has forced many of its former supporters to recognize that the fight against the far right cannot be won by liberal electoral politics. This new reality forces anti-authoritarians of all stripes to rise to the challenge of building strong movements for working class self-defense in this new atmosphere.

Why the turn form neo-liberalism to xenophobic nationalism?

      Another narrative states that in the rust belt as in Europe, the devastating effects of decades of austerity, neoliberal trade agreements, and an orientation towards multinational corporations have been challenged. That challenge in the U.S. and elsewhere has come in the form of xenophobic nationalism. There is a significant amount of truth to this as well, but it can’t explain much of Trump’s success without acknowledging the serious appeal that open white nationalism and misogyny has gained in this election.Perhaps the most revealing aspect of this moment is that after spending months describing Trump as a grave threat to the lives of women, people of color, queer and trans people and the disabled, the entire Democratic Party has immediately capitulated to him. They have made clear that they always held preserving their broken system to be far more important than our lives. Many among their base are for the first time seeing the party’s true colors, and are reaching out to radical organizations in the interest of carrying on the fight that the Democrats so quickly abandoned. Already we are seeing attacks on muslims, immigrants, people of every color besides white, queer and trans people. This is not abstract, it is already happening. We should expect more of this and must make organizing to oppose it a top priority.

So, what do we do?

 We are encouraged that so many have taken to the streets across the country. We hope more will do the same. Trump’s attacks in the form of policy and his supporters physical attacks and intimidation, must be opposed from day one.

Our organizations must be effective. The sense of despair many are feeling is grounded in the reality of an ascendant far right. Right now, they face little resistance. The sense of urgency many of us have felt is a recognition of the need to build that resistance. It is time for us to take up that task, to find new comrades ready to fight, and to fight. No one is coming to save us–we cannot use the electoral system to fight the far right effectively. It’s time to stop waiting and defend each other in the streets!

What Needs to Be Done: 1. No to National “healing”, working with, or a grace period for the Trump Regime 2. Take to the streets – build a militant resistance 3. Build working-class defense organizations that resist racist attacks, sexual assault, immigration and homeland security raids and deportations, police brutality and state repression 4. Agitate and organize for workers actions – including a general strike against Trump 5. No to containment of the struggle back into the Democratic Party, electoralism and the Non-Profit Industrial Complex

A PDF of the full article can be read HERE:

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

The Creeping Disease Of Fascism.

         We can see the ugly face of fascism creeping along the sewers of Europe, ever increasing their presence as capitalism creaks at the seams. It has to be resisted at all times and at all costs. No where is that battle more obvious than in Greece, a country where the police and fascist openly work hand in glove, a situation that will become the norm as the present capitalist crisis grows deeper.

A Contra Info appeal from London Antifa:

 London Antifa Solidarity Tour –

Financial support of prosecuted comrade in Kavala, Greece

Saturday December 5th
7pm – 11pm
LARC
62 Fieldgate Street
London E1 1ES

We will be asking for donations at the door.

       London Anti-Fascists are organising a short tour with a comrade from Kavala, Greece to raise awareness and solidarity for their struggle against fascists and state repression.

      Anti-fascists in Kavala have been some of the most active in all of Greece, organising demonstrations and actions against neo-nazi groups over the past years. We are organising this tour as one of the comrades from Kavala is facing serious charges on December 9th and is desperate need for solidarity and financial support.

ABOUT THE CASE:

       On Sunday 26th January 2014, a few hours before a scheduled anti-fascist rally, neo-nazis from the “Patriotic Movement” smashed up a shop owned by one well know anti-fascist and attempted to set fire to it, endangering the lives of those inside the building. After the intervention of local residents, as well as people from the surrounding nightclubs, the worst was avoided.

      Our comrade, once notified of the attack on his store, went down there to see what had happened. A few moments later some plain-clothes police officers arrived, having been notified by the local residents. At that moment our comrade is informed that before the smashing and arson of his store, a clash had taken place between a group of antifascists and a group of members of the Patriotic Movement. The “Patriotic Movement” were guarding the public space of the Municipal Park to prevent any anti-fascists from attending.

     Though refusing to have anything to do with the police, our comrade for the purpose of insurance had to go to the police station. Whilst waiting for 3 hours he was informed that he was arrested for public disturbance. Apparently members of the Patriotic Movement in collusion with the police attempted to put the blame for a previous confrontation on him.

     Not only were the Patriotic Movement attempting to control the streets and public spaces, they had after the incident violently attack two youths in a park and then proceeded to work with the police in making this claim against our comrade.

     A few hours later the antifascist rally, organised by the Autonomous Collective of Kavala [Kavala Autonomous Hangout], Vironos 3 squat and individual antifascists, took place in Faliro Park. From the very first moment of the rally, the Park was surrounded by several riot squads (around 8 to 10) and many plain-clothes cops. As soon as the antifascists (150 to 170 people from Kavala and other towns) blocked the road in front of the park, police vans shut off the road, in order to prevent the antifascists to approach the Municipal Park, where at the same time the fascist gathering was being held. Not only neo-nazi Golden Dawn members took part in the fascist gathering, but also other neo-nazi groups, such as the National Socialist Army of Macedonia and other known and unknown fascists from Northern Greece. After the events of that weekend, two comrades were held in custody for several days and face charges of “disturbance of public order with facial features covered”.

The trial is set for December 9th 2015.

       We hope that this tour can further make links between anti-fascists in UK and anti-fascists across Greece.

londonantifascists.wordpress.com | ldnantifascists[at]riseup.net

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

Europe's Race To The Right.

      Europe's governments are moving rapidly to the right, and it becomes more obvious and more brutal by the day. Here in the UK the Cameron Bullingdon Club boys are introducing legislation that will make it practically impossible to take strike action, and when you do, the employer will be able to ignore that strike by legally hiring agency workers, (scabs, blacklegs). Spain's gagging laws, among other things, makes demonstrations almost impossible. Finland's new right-wing coalition government is cutting wages and slashing at working conditions. This is the direction of Europe today under the dictate of the financial Mafia and their corporate buddies.

This from IUF:

Stop the government of Finland's massive attack on trade union rights!

      Finland's new right-wing coalition government has announced plans to unilaterally cut pay and benefits negotiated through collective bargaining through legislation which violates basic trade union rights, Conventions of the ILO and international and European human rights instruments. They are asking for solidarity and support.
      On September 9, after unions refused to agree to the proposals, the government announced a series of measures to be legislated and imposed as collective agreements begin to expire next year. These include substantial reductions in compensation for overtime, weekend and night work and sick pay, the elimination of two paid national holidays and a substantial reduction in annual leave. Unions estimate that the impact would be a 4-6% reduction in pay, with the impact falling hardest on the most vulnerable, including part-time and women workers.
     The national trade union centers SAK, STTK and Akava have called for a mass demonstration on September 18 as the first stage in a fight to defeat these laws. The IUF's Finnish affiliates, on behalf of the country's labour movement, have called for messages to be sent to the country's Prime Minister and Minister of labour in the run-up to the demonstration.

You can support them - CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE!

        Add to this Hungary's border fence to protect the purity of their Christian values. Christian values that obviously have no respect for the suffering of other human beings.

        This trend will continue and accelerate as capitalism tries in desperation to salvage itself from another one of its perpetual crisis. Plunder the working class, divide and rule, backed up by ever more brutal state repression. That is tomorrow's world, unless we, the people of Europe, take the only step that will bring an end to capitalist crisis and the misery and mayhem that it spews, bring down the capitalist system. We must consign it to the dustbin of history, with the label, "man's darkest hour".

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

The Left And Europe.

 

        Since the "Greek Affair" it is more obvious now than ever before that the EU is not a democratic institution. It never was, it has always been an organisation to allow capital to flow freely across the continent and therefore exert greater power over that area. As time goes on that power will be exerted with greater force and authority in an attempt to continually maximise the profit from their capital and to protect that capital when it runs into problems. The people don't enter the equation. The people can organise a Europe for the people, but it has to be created outside the rules and regulations of capital. The two are totally incompatible.

This from Roar Mag:

Syriza’s strategy to end austerity within the Eurozone has failed. What does this mean for the future of the Greek left and the anti-austerity movement in Europe?

In the past weeks, the masks have really fallen: the structures and legitimacy of the Eurozone are now thoroughly broken. Has the time come for the left to abandon the single currency, or even the EU? And what role are grassroots movements to play in the reconstruction of a radical transnational project against austerity and for a democratic and socially just Europe?

These are some of the questions discussed in this episode of #TalkReal, recorded in Athens during the GCAS World Conference, Democracy Rising. Featuring: Costas Douzinas, acclaimed Greek intellectual close to Syriza; Margarita Tsomou, Greek performer and commentator based in Berlin; Jerome Roos, writer and founder of ROAR Magazine; and Srecko Horvat, Croatian philosopher and member of the board of European Alternatives. Host: Lorenzo Marsili, director of European Alternatives.

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

Tightening Of State Repression.

       An update on the Greek prison struggle, though the fascist regime in Greece was forced by the actions of the prisoners and their supporters, to amend the draconian legislation regarding its new high security prison, it still means that a prisoner once sentenced could see their sentenced increased, if they don't behave the way the authorities dictate. The prisoner can have two years added and then another two and so on. This is "democratic Europe" in the 21st. century.

This from Contra Info: 

         After some modifications to the draft bill on maximum security prisons, the recess section of the Greek Parliament is now prepared to vote on this new law on Monday, July 7th. Perhaps it will take another summer session for the final voting, but their plan is to pass the bill no matter what… A protest gathering, supported also by anarchists, against the passage of the ‘prison reform bill’ will take place on Monday 7/7, at 18:00 in Syntagma Square, Athens.
        Prisoners throughout Greece have quit their mass hunger strike since the 1st of July, promising other forms of protest on the inside (we don’t have related info as of yet).  
       One can never know what the fucking minister of Justice, Charalambos Athanasiou, will submit at the last minute, but according to updates so far, main modifications are supposed to be as follows:

      - initial incarceration period in Type C prison units for recalcitrant inmates: (from 4 years to) 2 years;
      - initial incarceration period in Type C prison units for inmates convicted to over 12 years for terrorism (article 187A of the Greek penal code), and for inmates convicted to over 15 years for criminal organization (article 187 of the Greek penal code): (from 10 years to) 4 years.
        It is said that prisoners remanded on terrorism charges (under article 187A), who are still awaiting trial (not yet convicted), will also be sent to Type C prison units.
       It is still a fact that inmates locked up in Type C prison units won’t have the right to furlough (days of leave from the prison).
       Even if “dangerous” inmates serve 4 full years in a Type C prison, the incarceration period can be extended by prison prosecutors to 2 more years (when these prisoners are not “well-behaved”, or suddenly have further “incriminating indications” presented against them, etc.); when the additional 2 years are over, their incarceration in a Type C prison can be prolonged again to another 2-year period, and so forth…

This is all we can transmit for the time being.

Solidarity with prisoners of the State/Capital. Destroy all prisons!

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

In Capitalism, Oil = Blood.

       Is the root of Ukraine’s problem the fact that rich oil and gas deposits were discovered there early in 2013. So naturally, opposing imperialist camps vie for control, and once again as imperialists squabble over control of a country's rich resources, it's the people that suffer. Though oil could and probably will, transform Ukraine, it is at present one of the poorest countries in Europe. Sadly it has recently been given the kiss of death, by the usual vampire, the IMF (International Mankind Fuckers). That means it takes on a massive debt to hand to the corporations to exploit its country, and proceeds to pay back that debt, by massive cuts in social spending, and massive privatisation of public assets. It has to decimate the lives of its people and destroy what social fabric exists, in order to satisfy the blood suckers in the bank of Western imperialists, the IMF.
 

      Imperialists, of what ever shade, always manage to get workers to pick up guns against workers, they always get some to run with one flag and others to run with yet another. They manage to play the patriotic game, or the ethnic game, in an endeavour to gain control. Though they themselves are never patriotic, the sink their ill gotten wealth in any country that will pay the right dividend. You'll not see many “oligarchs” running in the streets with a Kalashnikov, They tend to be sitting with their banker guarding their thieved pile.
 

      And so it is at the moment in Ukraine, ordinary worker fighting and killing ordinary worker, to see which imperialist gets the goodies.

This from FREEDOM SOCIALIST (Voice of Revolutionary Feminism).

       The truth is Ukraine’s economy depends on both Russia and Europe. But each side wants to exclude the other. Meanwhile, Ukraine has signed its new loan deal with the IMF, accepting severe cuts to public spending, privatization of public resources, and other austerity measures. Ultra-rich oligarchs continue to loot the country.

     Volodymyr Ishchenko, an anti-capitalist sociologist in Kiev, puts it in a nutshell. “The crazy, irrational capitalist system that inevitably produces competing imperialisms … this is the root of the problem — not only for Ukraine, but for the entire world.”

Read the full article HERE:

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

How Much Deeper, How Much Longer?

           It is strange that the majority of people in the West seem to tolerate a system that increases wealth, but in tandem with the increase in poverty for the majority. The number of millionaires increases, millionaires become billionaires, corporate bodies see their coffers bursting at the seams, and yet more and more ordinary people slip further down the slippery slope of poverty. In recent years poverty has galloped at an ever increasing pace across Europe, which is a large slice of the so called affluent West. We have seen Greece descend to the realms of a third world country, Spain, Italy and Portugal are skidding along a few paces behind. It is not just the southern European countries that are seeing their populations being pushed back to the poverty of Victorian times. Ireland is hot on the heels of our southern neighbours, and here in the UK we have seen an explosion of food banks as people struggle to survive. Countries that somehow are not usually associated with poverty, have seen their people slide into the mire and stress of deprivation. Germany, the richest nation in Europe, and one of the richest in the world, has seen poverty spread its tentacles further afield, dragging more of its people into that state of misery and blighted future. The Netherlands, seen as an affluent part of “affluent” Europe, in 2012 saw its biggest increase in poverty since 2008, figures from the national agency Statistics Netherland, show that with a population of less than 17 million, the Netherlands has approximately 1.2 million of its people considered to be living in poverty. The Netherlands has also seen a particularly sharp increase in the number of children living in poverty, while in parallel to this there has been a rise in those affected by longterm poverty. And so it goes on, wealth spewing from this society, straight into the pockets of the already very rich. We continue to create wealth at an astonishing rate, but we continue to see poverty spread further and deeper among the general population. 

        How much longer will we accept this injustice, this blatant exploitation? How much deeper in the mire of poverty will we let ourselves be pushed? How much longer will we tolerate the future of our kids and grandkids being blighted by unnecessary and avoidable poverty? The answer is in our hands, if we want to stop the plundering of the wealth that we produce, if we want to see it spread with more justice and equality, we have to do the changing. We can't expect those rich parasites who gain immense wealth and power from the existing system, to do anything to change it for our benefit. We surely have the imagination and ability to create a society of fairness, all that seems to be lacking is the desire. 

Photos from Google.

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

Should The Greedy Control Our Food??

    It is obvious that climate change is happening, floods, droughts, extreme storms, along with rising temperatures is no longer a prediction, it is here and now. Of course, as is always the case in this capitalist world, when things go wrong it is always the poor and the low waged that pay the highest price. The adverse conditions are creating havoc with our agriculture, which transfers into higher prices for our food. It is symbolic of the insanity of this greed driven capitalist system, that as food prices are rising across the planet, and people can't afford the food the help to grow, or serve in restaurants, governments across the world are dismantling social services.

     One problem that we don't hear much about is the drought in California. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 67% of the state of California is classified as “extreme”, a further 9% is “exceptional”, this means wells running dry, no where for cattle to graze, forcing farmers to sell off their livestock, creating a shortage of dairy produce, glut of meat and then a shortage meat. Some scientists claim that 2013/14 is the driest season for 434 years. California is the top agriculture producer in the U.S. And one of the largest in the world, producing beef, dairy produce, wine, and some of the largest fruit and vegetable crops.

      Why should we worry if California goes dry? Well America is a large, rich and powerful country, when it runs out of food, it starts to suck in more from an already suffering world, creating greater shortages and higher prices. Europe is not exempt from the effects of climate change, scientist state that in southern Europe, from southern France through Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and to the Balkans, stream and river minimum flow could fall by as much as 40% and in periods of drought that could increase to 80%. This of course would result in food shortages in this area, being exacerbated by the the mighty dollar sucking in food from this and other areas.

      It is also very obvious that if we continue to let “market forces” sort things out, a group of rich people will make a killing from the food crisis, the rich will feed very well indeed, as they usually do, and the poor will go hungry and increase in numbers. Tackling climate change is only one part of the solution, but is to little avail if we don't sort out the system of distribution of the world's food. At the present the food is there to see to our needs, the problem is who owns it, and who decides its distribution method. The “market” is no more than a euphemism for a “bunch of greedy rich bastards”, do we really want them to be in control of OUR survival? 

 

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

Homeless In A Forest Of Empty Houses.

       In any civilised society it would seem natural to take as a basic given, that everybody has the right to a roof over their head. Homelessness, when and if it happens, should be a very short and temporary affair. However this insane system of capitalism, that we seem to tolerate, creates homelessness by its economic policies. Not that it pulls down houses so that there aren't enough, it just makes them unaffordable to millions across Europe, and then demonises those unfortunate enough to become victims of its greed driven policies.

      It is estimated that there are more than 4 million homeless across Europe, and highlighting the insanity of the system, Europe has more than 11 million empty houses. More than enough to give every homeless person two homes. In that very rich conglomerate we call Europe, you can pick your country and the picture is much the same.

      The most recent statistics on homelessness in Ireland are from the Special Census report on homeless persons in Ireland. Of the 4.5million persons in Ireland on Census night (10th April 2011), 3,808 were in accommodation providing shelter for homeless persons or were sleeping rough. 62% (or 2,375) were living in Dublin on Census night, and 644 (17%) were under the age of 20. 15% or 553 people were non-Irish, compared to 12% of the total population. Almost one-third of homeless persons had health which was ‘Fair’, ‘Bad’ or ‘Very bad’, compared with 10% of the general population.

      There are so many empty houses in Ireland there is talk of bulldozing some to protect the housing market and keep prices up, not a new idea, as this has been done in Spain. Deutsche Bank figures suggest that there are 289,451 empty houses in Ireland, including almost 60,000 vacant holiday homes. This represents a vacancy rate of 15 per cent. A recent report suggested that it would take 43 years to fill them. With sanity we could fill most of them tomorrow..

      So homelessness is not a matter of not enough homes, we are awash with empty houses, it is the system that prices people out of the ability to have that basic right, of a roof over your head. It is the system that sees houses as a means of making a profit, rather than a place to live. It is the system of gross inequality where one person can have two or more houses and others have to sleep rough. If sanity prevailed, the system would be scrapped and people's needs would be seen to, and a roof over your head would there for all.

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

Guantanamo Greece.

      In times of unrest the state will always find a scapegoat, the usual choice is immigrants. According to the vomit spewed by the apologists of the system, immigrants are the root of all evil within the system. The hope is that the people will focus on that situation and allow the system to continue to screw them stupid. In Greece, since the onset of the financial Mafia's rape of the country, immigrants have been treated to horrific and brutal treatment at the hands of the jackboot scum that roam the streets of Greek cities doing the state's dirty work, and at the hands of the state apparatus. Detention in appalling conditions with no end in sight, children separated from their parents and detained in mass dormitories. Conditions that would draw the attention of the babbling brook of bullshit, the media, if it were happening in some Third World country, but ignored when it happens here in so called civilised Europe.

ann arky's home.

A Swamp Of Injustice, Inequality And Repression.

       Seven days of police brutality and the people are still there. It is no longer just Istanbul, it has spread to other towns and cities across Turkey. Of course while the people were resisting the brutal force of authoritarianism on the Turkish streets, their babbling brook of bullshit, their national media, was showing a film about penguins. The usual crap, stay at home and watch nice tele. Turkey is just like the rest of Europe, a capitalist cauldron about to bubble over, a swamp of injustice, inequality and repression. There is not a country in Europe that is not on the edge of exploding. The normal inequality and injustice has been exacerbated by the financial Mafia's  plundering of the public purse via their "austerity" plan. Do they see the threat as big enough to ease up on their plundering, or will they push ahead with their drive for a sweatshop Europe. Either decision should be unacceptable to us the ordinary people, our only hope of draining that swamp of injustice, inequality and repression, is to end the present economic system. A system of profit is incompatible with a system for the people. We have to accept exploitation or get rid of capitalism, there is no middle road in this particular struggle.

ann arky's home.

European Sweatshops!!

       That babbling brook of bullshit, the media, has give a lot of coverage to the recent deaths of garment workers slaving away in the sweatshops housed in the  building that collapsed in Bangladesh. Of course there is rightful outcry and anger, though any tears shed by the corporate world, will be of the crocodile type, cheap labour equals bigger profits. However that same babbling brook of bullshit doesn't report on the sweatshops here in Europe, they exist here, as else where in the world, and they are on the increase in European countries being raped and plundered by the financial Mafia's austerity plans. This report is from Greece, but where else in this so called group of European developed nations are the same conditions being experienced day and daily?

This from Contra Info:

We will either raise our voices, or be forced to work ourselves to death
     Radka Nikolova, 38, was a kitchen worker in the pizza fan store in Patras. On Monday, January 14th, 2013 she was found dead at work, locked inside the store. Early estimates said the woman died due to heart failure. The story was covered up.
     It is relatively known that a heart condition alone is not enough to cause someone’s death. But yes… with a job at pizza fan, our heart does not seem to last long enough.------

Read the full article HERE:

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Cheap Subservient Labour.

     It is obvious that the Greek state is determined to crush any attempt by the people of Greece at self organisation. What is going on in Greece is not just a smashing of the social fabric of that society, not just a plundering of the public purse and all public assets, but a consorted effort to break the will of the people. There is nothing in the Greek state's agenda that says that the people of Greece will return to a reasonable standard of living, on the contrary, there is an attempt to force them, by means of repression, to accept their new place in third world, sweatshop conditions. The Western corporate world, Europe in particular, is determined to compete with the Eastern corporate world, to do that, it requires a low wage, sweatshop economy. Greece is the first step in that grand plan, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal are not far behind, the rest of Europe will follow suit in time. The Financial Mafia's methodology in pushing this corporate dream, will be "austerity".

      If the Greek state has the welfare of the Greek people in mind, why would it crush any attempt at self-help by the people trying to alleviate some of their suffering. Over the past year the Greek state has attempted to smash and close down any established squats and self-help centres in the cities and towns, hardly a method of helping the people through tough times. Sweatshop Europe is on the cards, unless we the people of Europe start now to organise self-help and solidarity across the continent. After all the financial Mafia and their partners, the corporate greed machine are well organised across the entire continent, and that is what we are up against. They have a grand plan, the workers have to know their place, a pool of unemployed to draw from, cheap subservient labour fearful for their jobs, as deprivation is the alternative. Is this the world we wish to leave to our children and grandchildren? If not, what are we going to do about it?

This from Contra Info:

March 25, 2012: Mass detentions and police raid of the autonomous hangout Baruti in the city of Veria (northern Greece)
April 20, 2012: Cops raid on the squatted social centre VOX and Valtetsiou 60 living squat, both spaces in the neighbourhood of Exarchia, Athens
April 29, 2012: Eviction of Panteion housing squat in Athens
July 2, 2012: Mass detentions and double police raid of the anarchist hangout Nadir and Orfanotrofio squat in Thessaloniki
July 10, 2012: Fascist arson attack against Apertus squat in the city of Agrinio
July 13, 2012: Fascist arson attack causes extensive damage to Draka squat on the island of Corfu
August 18, 2012: Eviction of the occupied municipal market of Kypseli in downtown Athens (seized and operated by the municipal authorities by now)
September 12, 2012: Cops arrest comrades and evict Delta squat in Thessaloniki; among various projects housed there, the anarchist Radio Revolt looses yet another roof; one of the arrested anarchists is held at a detention camp for immigrants and then extradited to Colombia; some of the former squatters are now faced with further prosecutions
September 13, 2012: Fascist arson on the self-managed hangout in the university of Rethymnon on the island of Crete (following an attempted parastatal incendiary attack against the same space on September 6)
October 1, 2012: Eviction of the squatted social centre Afroditis 8 in the city of Veria
October 30, 2012: Eviction of the Spyridonos Trikoupi living squat in Exarchia, Athens
December 20, 2012: Cops evict Villa Amalias squat in Athens
December 22, 2012: Fascist arson attack against the squatted social space Xanadu in the city of Xanthi (northern Greece)
December 28, 2012: Police arrest and beat migrant street vendors, and raid on the self-managed hangout in the ASOEE faculty in Athens; cops also confiscate equipment of the 98FM pirate radio from the same space
January 9, 2013: Eviction of Skaramaga squat in Athens, following a reoccupation attempt of Villa Amalias squat that failed and resulted in mass detentions
January 15, 2013: Police raid on Lelas Karagianni 37 squat in Athens
February 2, 2013: Nazi scum and cops team up to attack the social centre Mperntes and the Villa Zografou squat in the district of Zografou, Athens
February 7, 2013: Fascist arson attack against the anarchist space Thersitis in the district of Ilion, Athens
On February 15, a reoccupation attempt of Skaramaga squat failed, resulting in a police crackdown in the wider area of Exarchia, Athens.

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