Paper.

          I make no bones about it, I love to see anarchist papers on the street, there can never be enough, and the last couple of years has seen our streets empty of those essential pieces of paper, with their info, ideas, news, history, strategies, tactics and calls for solidarity in our fight for justice and freedom. So a wee bit of publicity for the latest Barricade Bulletin, No.15, a publication from that patch of the planet most people refer to as Ireland.

       Barricade Bulletin No.15 is out now. You can receive it directly from members locally or from the usual local outlets. For those of you who live outside of Derry and the North West you can download the online version which now carries news, articles and other information.

 

 

Barricade-Bulletin-No.-15Download

 

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

A Method Of Control.

     The state, any state, will do all that is necessary, "legal", by their own written laws, or "illegal" by their own written laws, to protect its power and the wealth and privileges of those who hold the power. Each state points to other states for useing torture to achieve their aims, but none are immune from this inhuman tactic. The British imperialists were pass-masters at it, controlling vast swaths of the planet by subtle and dubious means or open callous brutality to control populations. They have never lost that acquired ability. We can point to Russia, China and other states for their, so called "abuse of power" and "illegal" methods of controlling their populations, but the British state's hands are ever deep in the sewer of this inhuman method of repression to guard their power and privileges and maintain the status-quo. We can and do fight the open and known injustices inherent in the state system, but we must always be alive to the their many and varied, more underhand, hidden, callous methodology they use to try to create that subservient population. First they came for the anarchists----.

This from Act For Freedom Now:

       On Saturday the 22nd of February there was a protest held outside the Russian embassy in Dublin, Ireland in solidarity with anarchists and anti-fascists being persecuted by the Russian state.
       On the 10th of February, as part of “The Network” show trials and ongoing repression since 2017, seven anarchists were convicted on fabricated lies created by the Federal Security Services (FSB) the successors and continuity of KGB.
       Dimitry Pchelintsev received 18 years, Ilya Shakursky 16 years, Arman Sagynbaev 6 years, Andrei Chernov 14 years, Vasily Kuksov 9 years, Mikhail Kulkov 10 years and Maxim Ivankin 13 years imprisonment.
      The main “evidence” used against the seven were:
    1) “Confessions” that were tortured out of the accused. Torture, which includes beatings, sleep deprivation and what could only be described as sexual assault from electric shocks to bodily parts.
     2) Materials planted in the homes of the accused.
From the very start of the trial and throughout, the defence for the accused attempted to have the “confessions” thrown out of the trial as evidence. The court refused. Its clear the state had them guilty before they were even arrested!
       At the Russian embassy in Dublin the police were there before our arrival. Throughout the protest embassy staff continuously came out to take pictures of us. The repression and tactics used by the Russian state are nothing new. Throughout the world, states fabricate “evidence” to remove anyone deemed as a danger to the power of the state.
     In Ireland this can be seen in recent years with the case of the Craigavon 2, who the British state blamed on killing a cop in Craigavon, Armagh. The only evidence the state used against the two was a statement made by an individual whos father came out publicly calling his son a liar and in the trial the same witness contradicted himself. The rest of the evidence was circumstantial. The British intelligence service even had a tracking device on the car of one of the accused on the night of the shooting, which the data on the device mysteriously went missing. The Craigavon Two are still in jail doing life.
      Also in Ireland in the last few days a republican Paul McIntyre was arrested and charged with the murder of journalist Lyra Mckee who was shot dead in Derry during a riot that erupted after a series of police raids on homes. The police have publicly said they have no evidence linking Paul McIntyre to the killing other than picking up shell casings. This is yet a new case of repression by the British state against their political enemy.
       We send our solidarity to our comrades in Russia as well as across the world and to all those fighting oppression and being persecuted.
YOUR TORTURE WILL NOT KILL OUR IDEAS

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

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

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

Sadly We Have Still Not Joined The Dots.

       Over the years I spout something and think it is relatively obvious, and somehow I expect others also see it and change will come. Sadly if there is any change it is microscopic and unbelievably slow. Because of the many many years I have lived, to me, it seem the change is actually non-existent. The blood still flows, the mass shootings continue, the wars recur or are continuous, poverty increases, deprivation runs rampant and still the system continues to amass unimaginable wealth in the hands of the few, the few responsible for all the ills that plague this planet.

      To make my point I will repeat an article I wrote back in 1914, called "Can We Join The Dots", however I accept that so far we have failed to Join The Dots.

          We all know capitalism produces wars between countries, and has done so more or less, since the system crawled out of the slime to infest the globe. What most people don't seem to recognise, is, it also causes wars within countries, wars between the ruling elite and the ordinary people. As capitalism is global it is difficult to find a country where the people are not in open conflict with the powers that be. The Ferguson riots in America, though classed as racial, racism is an aspect of capitalism. Mexico, the recent disappearance of 43 students and teachers and the ongoing violent protests, is the capitalist state attempting to crush any resistance to its exploitation. Recently we have seen over 100 protests across Ireland against watercharges, as capitalism tries to squeeze more profit from the ordinary people. In Brussels, there have been violent clashes as more than 100,000 protesters took to the streets against that common aspect of capitalism, “austerity”. In London we have just had more than a thousand masked anti-capitalist protesters take to the city centre. Protests took place in towns and cities across the Republic, including Letterkenny in County Donegal
       It would be extremely difficult to find a country where the people are not at odds with the system, across the globe unrest, anger and disgust are the feelings of the people, all have a growing hatred of a system that ties them to poverty, while they produce an abundance of wealth, that invariably ends up in the hands of a small greed driven bunch of parasites. With so much anger and unrest, it seems strange that the system is still managing to bleed us dry, perhaps we just have to join the dots between these world wide protests and we will see the system collapse.

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

Yellow Vests And False Flags.

        The "Yellow Vests" in France have been an inspiration to the underlying anger of the people against this elitist system that fits a yoke around the shoulders of the people. However, though you may walk under the banner of your true feelings, there are those who march under a false flag, we have to be ever vigilant. The cabal of xenophobic, fascist vermin, will never miss an opportunity to get their bile onto the streets. It seems that the racist scum in Dublin have commandeered the Yellow Vest movement in that city.

      This report from Ireland taken from 325:

The Yellow Vests call for unity, but how can there be unity?

       On Saturday, January 12th the Yellow Vests had another of their weekly marches in Dublin. Anti fascist and anti racist showed up to the march for the second week in a row.

      As soon as the banner and anti fascist flag was took out yellow vesters came out of the crowd looking angry. We received a torrent of abuse and shouts of, “house our own”, “we need more racists”, “Fuck refugees”, “refugees not welcome”, “you’se are paid by George Soros”, and “Ireland for white people”. They gave a very poor attempt to take our banner and flag but couldn’t manage to succeed. We were shouted at to leave, “fuck off”. Not one out of the crowd of about 60 to 70 yellow vests supported the banner for refugees or said anything about the racists shite being spouted. We stayed and followed them in their march and we left before they attempted their joke of a direct action where they attempted to block a road for an hour, the cops moved them on before the yellow vest protest reached their hour long goal to block traffic.

          The Yellow vests in Ireland are not a “leaderless movement”

The Yellow Vest march was led this week by Kevin Molloy, a self confessed debt collector. Kevin even announced this in his speech, not one yellow vester bat an eyelid including the anti refugee people who want to “house our own” and who preached on about “our homeless are sleeping on the streets”.

        His xenophobic, anti muslim mate Glen Miller was busy this week in Wexford organising the Wexford branch of the Yellow Vests. Any talk of a “leaderless movement” is bull shit. There is very much a leadership of key organisers within the yellow vests, the majority of them are either anti Muslim, xenophobes or conspiracy “free men” nut jobs.

      In the core group of leaders they decide what the march will do and where it’ll go. They talk with cops of what their plans are. They control the admin on the facebook pages.

I would imagine a lot of the people attending yellow vest march wouldn’t be racist or necessarily anti refugee/immigration. The dangerous thing is a lot of the leaders and key organizers are. On one hand they call for unity against the government on the other hand they are against refugees/migrants entering Ireland.

Homes for all:

       There is 250,000 of empty/boarded up buildings all over the south of Ireland. There are also 10,0000 people on the housing waiting list? So let’s do the math – if 10,000 of these empty place were turned into homes for the people on the waiting list it means there are still plenty left over.

        Yes there is need for struggle against the state but we also need to look at the Irish elite class, the banks, and further afield at the imperialist proxy wars being waged in the Middle east and the IMF purposely getting countries into severe debt. The struggle is against the whole system that creates poverty, wars and corruption which goes on to create homelessness and refugees.

     Whoever considers unity with this joke would really want to seriously reconsider their position.

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

From Sacco And Vanzetti To The Craigavon 2

        Pick your country and you will find injustice, miscarriages of justice are part and parcel of any state's judicial system, as it will always do its utmost to intimidate dissent and subdue activists in the defence of the privileged few who control the wealth and hold the reins of power. 

A call for solidarity from 325:

From Sacco and Vanzetti to the Craigavon 2
A Call Out for Support and Solidarity

       The 23rd of August marks the 91st anniversary of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. They were both executed in the US in 1927 for the robbery of a shoe factory and the killing of a guard and paymaster. During their trial the prosecution produced conflicting ballistic evidence and witness testimony. The defence had several witnesses testifying where the accused men were on the day of the robbery and killings. This should have proven Sacco and Vanzetti innocence but instead both were convicted and sentenced to death. They were killed for their beliefs, they were insurrectionary anarchists “that advocated relentless warfare against a violent and oppressive government.”
       Like Sacco and Vanzetti, the state scapegoated Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton (their case is known as the Craigavon 2) , for revenge over killing of a cop and two British soldiers in 2009. The cops arrested and charged several republicans in connection with the killings. In all cases the only real evidence the state had was that all the accused were republicans. Two people, John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville were charged and convicted of the killing of the cop. Two others, Colin Duffy and Brian Shivers, were charged with the killing of the soldiers. The latter were subsequently found not guilty of the killings of the soldiers, the state had no evidence on them.
       Like with Duffy and Shivers the state have no real evidence on John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville. The only evidence produced by the state was circumstantial evidence and a witness statement from a proven liar, whose own father came forward denouncing his son as such, and the partner of the witness that was with him on the night of the killing cannot confirm his version of events. So what really convicted John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville were their belief in the republican struggle and for the state to save face and for the revenge on what were the first killings of British armed forces in Ireland since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
         The Craigavon 2 need support and solidarity, they are are going on their tenth year of imprisonment. Brendan McConville is a father of two, was 37 in 2009 when first imprisoned, Brendan has to do at least 25 years before being considered for parole.
         John Paul Wootton was 17 years old when first imprisoned, he wasn’t even an adult and has been in prison ever since, John Paul has to do at least 18 years before being considered for parole. John Paul now describes himself as an anarchist, and so is added to the long list of anarchists in prisons across the globe from Chile to Russia.
       Their only hope is for an appeal in court, their case needs to be made known and their campaign needs to grow to put pressure on those in power.

      For further information on cases of John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville see: https://jftc2.com/

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

Whose Justice?

         Received this from comrade Loam at arrezafe, another example of the charade of justice under capitalism, a graphic display of representative democracy at work. Although it took place in Ireland, it is the same attitude throughout the system. A judicial code that is based on fuck the people, with the state's bully-boys doing their usual rough stuff.

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

An Injury To One----!!!

       Divide and rule has always been the strategy of the rich and powerful, and the politically aware individuals among the ordinary people, have always called for unity in our struggle to combat the continuing onslaught against our conditions.

       However we are stuck in the past if we see the struggle on a national scale, calling for unity against our national government, as if that would solve the problem. It is not, and never has been a national struggle, it is an international struggle. The powers that be, will still use the same tactic of divide and rule but they work on a pan-European, pan-world scale. As we struggle with the austerity attack here in the UK, the exact same thing is going on across Europe, and elsewhere in the world.
 

      Our struggles are replicated across the world, but our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, doesn't give much cover to these struggles. Ireland for example where recently 100,000 people took to the streets in the continuing struggle against water charges. Or in Belgium, where a strike on December 15, across public and private sectors, brought thousands onto the streets in several areas across Belgium, bring the country to a standstill.
     We in each of the countries of Europe should see these struggles as our struggles and organise accordingly. An injury to one is an injury to all, is not a national slogan, it is a basic philosophy of all the ordinary people battling under the repressive capitalist system. We, here in the UK, should be organising in support of the Irish and the Belgium people. Likewise these countries should be involved in supporting our struggles here. Our unity is unbeatable, as small groups, they are, and will continue to, kick the shit out of us.

       Finance and corporate power doesn't recognise national borders as they attack the ordinary people, why should we the people, recognise these borders, in our struggle for justice?

On the Irish people's struggle against water charges:

 

      A European country in crisis. Men in black come to the rescue. With the complicity of the national government, they impose painful measures on the population. Men in black never forget to be nice to their friends, so the measures include a provision to privatize public water services. As a reaction, massive citizen’s mobilizations take place. The story sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
     We have already experienced this situation in Greece, and just a few months ago, Greek citizens won the battle, and water will remain in public hands. Now history repeats itself, and the struggle against water privatization and commodification is at boiling point in Ireland.

Continue reading:
On the Belgium strike:

     To understand the events, the political context should be pointed out. In Belgium, the attacks against workers have been going on for 25 years coming governments in which the social democrats participate. After the long political crisis following the 2010 , marked by the victory in Flanders of the NVA, the SP Prime Minister estimated that “to save the country” it had to step up these attacks, so that the Flemish traditional right could beat the neoliberal-nationalists and that the coalition with social democracy could be continued.

     This policy - which cost the workers the trifling sum of 20 billion Euros - was a terrible fiasco. Last May, the return of the coalition seemed the most likely option. But, to general surprise, the French-speaking Liberal party, put into the saddle by the Palace, formed a homogeneous rightwing coalition with the Flemish Christian Democrat , the Flemish Liberals and the NVA. This latter agreed to keep quiet on its separatist , in return for an ultra-neoliberal program.

Continue Reading:

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

 

Can We Join The Dots?

 

      We all know capitalism produces wars between countries, and has done so more or less, since the system crawled out of the slime to infest the globe. What most people don't seem to recognise, is, it also causes wars within countries, wars between the ruling elite and the ordinary people. As capitalism is global it is difficult to find a country where the people are not in open conflict with the powers that be. The Ferguson riots in America, though classed as racial, racism is an aspect of capitalism. Mexico, the recent disappearance of 43 students and teachers and the ongoing violent protests, is the capitalist state attempting to crush any resistance to its exploitation. Recently we have seen over 100 protests across Ireland against watercharges, as capitalism tries to squeeze more profit from the ordinary people. In Brussels, there have been violent clashes as more than 100,000 protesters took to the streets against that common aspect of capitalism, “austerity”. In London we have just had more than a thousand masked anti-capitalist protesters take to the city centre.

      It would be extremely difficult to find a country where the people are not at odds with the system, across the globe unrest, anger and disgust are the feelings of the people, all have a growing hatred of a system that ties them to poverty, while they produce an abundance of wealth, that invariably ends up in the hands of a small greed driven bunch of parasites. With so much anger and unrest, it seems strange that the system is still managing to bleed us dry, perhaps we just have to join the dots between these world wide protests and we will see the system collapse.

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

Religions Speak With Forked Tongue.

       It seems that there is no end to the cruelty, and no depth of depravity to which the vile institution of the Catholic Church will sink. From sexual and physical abuse, to paedophilia, and now the discovery of over 800 bodies of babies found in a septic tank at one of the homes run by the Catholic Church. Are there any more such homes?

        Trusted by that other vile institution, the state, to look after mothers and their children, they used and abused the mothers and starved the neglected the babies, and when the babies died they were disposed of in a septic tank. All this and more form an extremely rich and powerful organisation that preaches love.  The Catholic Church, is like all religions, they speak with forked tongue. They are the enemy of free thought and progress, the creator of divisions between people, institutions of control freaks, a blight on humanity. The quicker we clear our minds and our society of their poison the greater the chances of co-operation between all people.

 

        Vicious cruelty and religion go hand in hand, not just in the Catholic Church, it is how they treat those who differ or deny their "teachings". The only restraint on their barbaric behaviour is the secular society. Over the centuries the secularists have moderated most of religions vile acts but as we see from various reports, it breaks out again and again, creating misery, suffering and bloodshed.

This from Care 2:

       For decades in Ireland, unmarried women who became pregnant were sent to state-funded "mother and baby homes." The mothers would work to atone for the "sin" of getting pregnant; their children were taken away from them. And outside the now-abandoned site of one of those homes in Galway, the remains of nearly 800 children were found in an old septic tank last week.

       In 1925, Catholic nuns took over the running of a workhouse in Tuam, Galway, turning it into a "mother and baby home." At this grim institution, which locals simply nicknamed "The Home," children were starved and neglected, often to a fatal degree. In fact, one historian estimates that a child died once a fortnight in "The Home."

And those babies weren't treated with dignity after their tragic deaths. Instead , they were tossed in a septic tank and left there to rot -- until locals discovered them again last week.

      The Catholic church has responded with prayers for the dead children's souls. But these abused, lonely orphans deserve more than that. The truth about their lives -- the whole truth -- needs to be told, so that no one can ever forget the pain and suffering they went through.

      We have to remind Ireland's officials that we won't let the past go that easily. Please sign and ask the Irish government to help fund a memorial for these babies who never had a proper funeral.

Thank you for taking action,

Kathleen J.
Care2 and ThePetitionSite

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

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

Bulgaria, 41 Days Of Protest.

       Bulgaria, one of Europe's poorest countries has had 41 days of mass protests, and yesterday, Tuesday 23 July, crowds surrounded the parliament building, trapping the members of parliament and their staff inside. Later riot police cleared a path to allow the MP's and staff to leave. Earlier on today the riot police cleared the mass protest from the front of the parliament building.     

      What is it that is bringing the Bulgarian people onto the streets? Surprise surprise, it's that same two faced beast we are all facing at the moment, austerity and corruption. Wake up people of Europe, all your parliaments are the same, forcing austerity down your throats to save their bankster friends in the financial Mafia, and all are oozing the stench of corruption. They all sit and legislate to legitimise the plundering of the public purse, every piece of legislation makes you poorer and their bankster friends richer. This is their only function, all they have to do is try to get it done with as little trouble from the people as possible. If that fails and the people rise up in anger and disgust, then the heavy hand of their state apparatus, police and riot police, will be given a free hand. Like I keep saying, every country in Europe is getting the same treatment, some more rapidly than others, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Bulgaria are well into the process, the other countries are following the same path, the pace is different. It will not stop until they get their sweatshop Europe, or the people put an end to this insane system of greed and exploitation by the few, at the expense of the many. What is a country if it is not its people?

Photo from the BBC:

ann arky's home.

Look, Do You See The Smoke From Athens?

      Capitalism is world wide, it is ruthless in every country, yet the people in every country re-act differently. However in every country there is insurrection, but not the version of movies and TV dramas. From small individual acts against the authoritarian system to organised events, from strikes to mass uprisings, insurrection simmers throughout the capitalist world, the struggle to be free is always there. In some countries it is on the street in numbers and a clear, lines drawn fight, in others, some citizens go about their daily routine unaware that there is a battle taking place. Why the difference? Nobody can have any doubt that the struggle in Greece is at the level of on the street and lines clearly drawn. As a constant visitor to Greece I have often wondered why, why do the people of Greece re-act so differently form say, the people here in the UK, Spain or Ireland? It is the same capitalist system, it is the same ruthless exploitation, the same restriction of freedom, the same thrusting the people into poverty. Others obviously ask this question, the extract below is from another individual asking the same question with hints at an answer.

This from "Look, do you see the smoke from Athens?" on the "Moment of Insurrection" site:

        There, it’s happened again. Revolt of near insurrectionary proportions. Unbeknownst to the rest of us. Waiting with baited breath as we do. Hoping to see smoke on the horizon. ‘Look, do you see the smoke from Athens?’ asks the banner hung in Istanbul, at the bridge closest to the sight of Greece. We strain to see the smoke from here. We search the internet from wafts of smoke, images of smoke rising. And we see a massive Christmas trees on fire. Thousands in black reaching into the smoke and throwing back canisters of teargas. Back to the charging cops who are the last to lose control in riotsheild economies.

      Is this then what the end of the economy looks like? Is this then what the end of our collective movement looks like? Revolt without warning. Without postings. Wildcat uprisings?!

Continue READING:

ann arky's home.

ARE WE JUST A BAD LOT??

        Looking at the figures of the prison population in Scotland, and comparing them with the prison population in other European countries you begin to ask yourself some questions. Take Northern Europe and look at the figures for other countries with a similar population. Denmark, population approximately 5.5m, prison population, just over 4,000. Finland, population approximately 5.3m, prison population, 3,100. Norway, population just under 5m, prison population, 3,600. Ireland, population approximately 4.5m, prison population just over 4,400. Not a lot of difference there, but let's look at Scotland, population approximately 5.2m, prison population 8,178, for the year 2011/12. This was an increase of 4% over the last decade. You are looking at approximately double the prison population in Scotland compared to other European countries of similar population size. What makes the situation worse is that this 8,178 prison population is housed in a prison system with a design capacity of 7,840.

      Could it be that we Scots are just a bad lot, just a wee land of terrible people? Or could it be that we have more problems in our society, poverty etc.  get locked up for problems related to mental health and addiction, or is it simply that we have a more authoritarian government in this country. Probably a combination of all of the last three.

        Prisons are never about justice, they are about control, they are about protecting the establishment, the status-quo, about protecting the wealth and power of those who rule over us. The more they feel threatened, the more the prison population will grow.

ann arky's home,