GDP, And All That Crap.

     The world of capitalism and debt is a very strange world. Debt as a percentage of your GDP seems to be taken as a bench mark of a country's viability. Hence Greece gets clobbered, plundered and its people driven into deprivation as its debt, 2013, sits at 177% of GDP. Others are not that far behind, Italy is sitting at 132% of GDP with the USA at 105%. The UK, though low as a percentage of GDP is seeing that percentage rise considerably. When the "crisis" hit in 2008, UK debt was 51.9% of GDP, but has now, 2013, shot up to 90.6%, are we heading towards a Greek situation? Another fact we should remember, after the WWII, the UK was bankrupt, but managed to create the National Health service!! We don't hear a lot about Japan but it seems to survive with a staggering debt of 256% of GDP, why? To whom do all these countries owe that debt? If the Greek economy was devastated and plundered with debt of a mere 177% of GDP, does this mean that the world is heading for a "Greek crisis", as the world debt, 2014, was sitting at an eye-watering 286% of the world's GDP. So in this insane capitalist asylum, the world's debt outstrips all its wealth, who are the banksters and financial Mafia that will call this debt in, and turn the world into another present day Greece? 

       All these crazy figures prove, is that the whole system of capitalism is built on an illusion, a world of shuffling figures, a world where a bunch of people tell us that the world owes more than it is worth, where that bunch of people have the power to destroy an entire country and its people, because we are lead to believe that the illusion is a reality.

      The world belongs to us, the people who live on it, there is nobody above us to whom we owe anything. The debt is an illusion by those who produce nothing, in an attempt to enslave those who produce all the wealth on the planet. Let's stop talking economics, and start talking people's needs, let's stop looking at balance sheets, and see to those needs. Let's shatter the illusion of perpetual growth and create sustainability and mutual aid. It is our only hope of fairness and justice for all our people, it is the only hope of saving our home, the planet.  

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

 

Operation Pandora, UK Version.

 

     Today, Friday, 16 January, is a day of international solidarity with the anarchists in Spain being harassed and arrested by the Spanish government's Operation Pandora. However, like I said, this ideology of repression against anarchists is not confined to Spain. Here in the UK, the anarchist community around the Bristol area is at the receiving end of a UK version of "Operation Pandora". I have no doubt what so ever, that this will spread across the country. The state will always, first try to silence those most vociferous in their critique of this rotten, stinking, unjust system of power and corruption, they are seen as the greatest threat to its monopoly of power and violence. Stand up in solidarity for all those who see this cancer called capitalism as a blight on humanity. Solidarity has no borders.

This from Vice:

       The vast majority of Bristol's anarchist community aren't like this. With their status as queen-and-country-hating tabloid pariahs, few people would be aware of any difference between different anarchist groups. But their methods, goals, and targets differ radically. Groups such as the Anarchist Federation (Afed) and Solidarity Federation (Solfed), which constitute a majority of the scene in the UK are involved in open, public-facing, class-based community work—handing out leaflets, helping workers who go on strike, that kind of thing—rather than acts of fly-by night vandalism.
      But these distinctions don't seem to count for much as far as the police are concerned. Over the past few months, activists from across the anarchist community say the police have been targeting them arbitrarily and indiscriminately. They say individual activists have been harassed, houses raided, workplaces visited, and arrests made without charges.
      The police maintain that they are searching for suspects linked to the IAF, but activists say they are targeting anyone that publicly identifies as an anarchist. And they say it's getting worse by the day. For the last week I've been talking to different members of the anarchist scene in the West Country and the impression I've got is of a community under siege.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Workfare, A Capitalist Epidemic.

       Here in the UK we protest against the government about workfare, a scheme whereby the unemployed work for businesses, but get no salary. We behave as if this was just our problem, the result of us having a nasty government. However, like I keep saying, these greed driven capitalist ideas are not a UK phenomenon, the capitalist disease is world wide. Take Greece for example:

 GreekReporter notes the solution to Greece's problems...

     Centre of planning and Economic Research in Greece has proposed a controversial measure in order to deal with the problem of increasing unemployment in the country.  The measure includes unpaid work for the young and unemployed up to 24 years old, so that companies would have a strong motive to hire young employees. Practically, what is proposed is the abolition of the basic salary for a year. At the same time the “export” of young unemployed persons was also proposed to other countries abroad, as Greek businesses do not appear able to hire new personnel.

     Then of course there is that country at the other end of the world in what lots of people see as a benign but pleasant land, Canada, where the Bank of Canada Governor stated:

   ------that the employment situation is so bad that young people should consider working for free. As The Globe & Mail reports, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said 'Adult children stuck in their parents’ basements because they can’t find adequate employment should take unpaid work to bolster résumés as they wait for the recovery to take hold'.

 

      Similar schemes are in place or are being considered in other countries, including France, and of course Bill Clinton set the ball rolling in that direction in America as far back as the 90's. Our problem is not British workfare schemes, it is the capitalist system. I have no doubt that if we were successful in getting rid of the various workfare schemes, the system, no matter the colour of the government, would come up with other similar means of cutting labour costs and increasing company profits. Until we finally demolish the system of capitalism, we will be plagued by exploitation by various variations of workfare schemes, and poverty will be our domain.

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

Financial Mafia's World Wide Slavery.

      

      We all know that policies such as Workfare, and Work Related Activity Group, create slave labour, misery and stress, and this is aggravated by sanctions. People point the finger at the Cameron Cabal, as if this was their creation and if we could just get rid of that bunch of Oxbridge parasites, it would all be better. What we should realise is that these policies are not indigenous to the UK, the Cameron Cabal don't have the brains to think up such devious ways of getting the corporate wage bills down, they merely follow the instructions of the financial Mafia. These policies are taking place in other countries.

Some Pas Forgione quotes from Australia:

     The federal government has plans to expand Work for the Dole. From July next year it will be compulsory for job-seekers aged 18-30 to do 25 hours of work a week.

        In the same week that employment minister Eric Abetz announced the government would expand Work for the Dole to all job seekers under 50 and that job seekers would have to apply for double the number of jobs than previously, billionaire miner Andrew Forrest released his own recommendations for welfare reform — some of the most punitive ever proposed.

       The federal government is considering a proposal to force young unemployed people into strict military-style boot camps. The plan is an inadequate, simplistic response to the complex problem of youth unemployment. The fact that Labor is seriously exploring the scheme is another indication of how increasingly right-wing the party has become on welfare policy.
    The proposal, promoted as a “possible vote winner” to be announced before the upcoming election, would force early school leavers aged 15 to 21 into tough, hard-line boot camps, though precise details remain sketchy.

 
      So it is not our little bunch of Oxbridge millionaire parasites that are responsible for the misery and exploitation heaped on us, it is the world wide system of the festering marriage of capitalism and state. The shape of our society and the quality of our lives are decided in the grand marble halls of the faceless financial Mafia. Until we, across the globe, sort out that mob, our lives will continue down the spiral of exploitation and poverty.   

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

We Need To Organise Pan-European.

       Does anybody still think that the UK austerity plan and the privatisation of everything, including the health service, is purely a UK government plan? It is happening across the planet, in the new era of capitalism, public is evil, private is good. Populations will be impoverished as all wealth is syphoned up to the privileged parasite class, at an ever increasing rate.

         Greece, a country I visited regularly over a number of years, and in my earlier visits in and around Athens, I never saw a begger. Now it is not uncommon to see people sleeping in doorways, including children. You will see people rummaging through waste bins in search of something to eat or sell. Suicides and substance abuse have rocketed in the last few years. 

         Spain, remember that country that you went to on holiday, bustling streets and shops and a friendly atmosphere? Well, regarding child poverty, Spain has now dropped to the second worst in Europe, just above Romania.

        Of course both of these countries always had poverty, under capitalism every country has poverty. The difference now is that it is widespread, endemic and getting worse, not because of the lack of wealth, but because of the ever increasing rate at which that wealth is being sucked upwards.

        Even those countries that are considered the leaders in social welfare, Sweden for example, are now seeing their public services being gobbled up by the corporate greed machine, to the detriment of the general population.

Two short quotes from The International Journal of Socialist Renewal: 

       Tonight’s public meeting is standing room only. The mood is cheerful, earnest, disciplined and, dare I say it, rather churchly. Fittingly, we begin with songs: first a hymn tune with the refrain "Everything is for sale", then a jazzier number that goes "Got any money? (Then you can buy a place in the queue)". Next there’s a short dystopian pantomime set in a hospital waiting room: the man with the private plan goes straight upstairs while the lady on the public option has to wait in line. The sheepish uninsured fellow with the broken leg is shown a price list, then the door. 

       Sweden’s welfare system is famously extensive: long parental leave, free childcare, free tertiary education, generous social security. After the economic crisis of the early 1990s successive governments have reduced entitlements and cut public spending, but what has changed the most is the incorporation of the private sector at every level of the welfare state. All public contracts are subject to competitive tendering and most new clinics and hospitals are built with private funds. Communal clinics, nursing homes and schools compete with private firms for pupils and patients. Last year the state paid almost 100 billion kronor (£11 billion) to private welfare operators, overwhelmingly to 10 large corporations all owned by private equity funds.

Read the full article HERE:

           Bearing in  mind the above facts, do you honestly believe that changing the smiling face of the Etonian millionaire, sitting on the throne at the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, for another smiling Oxford educated suit, will make one bleeding bit of difference in the direction this country and every other country in Europe, is being driven? Will running and putting a X in a box in favour of party machine that is in the thrall of the financial mafia and the corporate world, stop the UK slide into a sweatshop economy, reverse the child poverty in Spain, reduce the deprivation and suicides in Greece, and bring back Sweden's social welfare system? Don't hold your breath. 

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

The Lid Is Still On, But The Pot Is Boiling!!

     The people in Spain have been getting the same message from their government that we in the UK are getting, "things are getting better, the economy is on the mend.". Of course the people in Spain don't feel that, and don't believe the propaganda, nor should we. 

     Protest in Spain and Greece have been almost continuous for a number of years now, but the mainstream media, that babbling brook of bullshit, just reports words from the mouthpieces of the financial Mafia, economic gurus and the pundits who kneel before the altar of eternal growth.
This from Roar Mag:

       The latest short documentary in the Global Uprisings series explores ongoing resistance and self-organization in the midst of the crisis in Spain.

        As social conditions continue to deteriorate across Spain, people have been turning to the streets and to each other to find solutions to the crisis. This film tells the story of the massive mobilization that saw millions of people converge on Madrid on March 22, 2014; the story of the proliferation of social centers, community gardens, self-organized food banks; and the story of large-scale housing occupations by and for families that have been evicted. The film pieces together many of the creative ways that people have been coping with crisis and asks what the future may hold for Spain.

        Filmed and edited in March/April 2014, it is part of the Global Uprisings documentary series. View more at globaluprisings.org.

Pieces of Madrid from brandon jourdan on Vimeo.

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

Propaganda, Propaganda, Propaganda,

      A couple of things that recently got a lot of cover in that babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, one was Greece returning to the bond market, and the other, UK inflation dropping to 1.6%. These two pieces of information were meant to make us all feel a lot better, the propaganda machine was in full throttle. As for Greece entering the bond market, what this means is that the financial Mafia gambling cabal, had another casino in which to place their bets. They were prepared to loan the corrupt Greek state €3 billion at a nice healthy rate of interest of 4.75%, a mere drop in the bucket as far as Greek state debt is concerned. Does this mean that all is well in Greece and that the 27% unemployment, and 60% among the young, will suddenly evaporate? Does it mean that the trashed health service will, like magic, rise to the needs of the people? Will the abject poverty and deprivation be transformed into a land of milk and honey? Well perhaps a look at some of the figures might answer those questions. Greece's public debt in 2008, the date of the gambling casino collapse, was €263.3 billion, and the prediction for 2014 is €322 billion. The size of Greece's debt as a percentage of GDP in that 2008 bubble burst, was 112.9%, 2014's prediction is 175.9%. What Greece's re-entry to the bond market really means is that it is obvious gamblers can't stay away from the casino.

       The excited wetting of nickers among the millionaire cabal sitting in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, at the news the inflation in the UK has dropped for the sixth consecutive month to 1.6%, will not be transferred to the ordinary person on the street. According to a study by The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) mid-range household incomes between 2013 and 2014 were 6% below what they were before the gamblers crisis of 2008. Other interesting figures from the study state that between 2008 and 2013 inflation was 20%, energy prices rose by 60% and food prices by 30%. Where were incomes during this period? Did your income rise enough to cover that 60% rise in energy prices, or the 30% rise in food prices? It is all smoke and mirrors. The truth is that we as a people here in the UK are sliding down the shute to a sweatshop economy. Last year almost a million adults and children received emergency food parcels from food banks, a rise of 163% on the previous year. Irrespective of what the propaganda machine might say, more and more people are turning to food banks for survival. The Trussell trust has over 400 food banks and is opening two a week, compared to only three in 2012/13. Of course The Trussell trust is not the only organisation handing out food help to those in need, they are just the tip of the iceberg. What about those living in areas where there is no Trussell Trust, what about all those who just eat less and feed their kids less, perhaps too proud to seek help or unaware of where to get that help. The Trussell trust states that it is now expanding its services to include welfare advice and providing essentials such as washing powder, nappies and hygiene products, as more and more families are at breaking point and food is not their only problem. This is the true picture of Britain's low inflation figure

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

All Fall Down.

     Listening to the Cameron millionaire cabal spouting about growth in the economy, and how we in the Uk are ahead in the European recovery, makes you wonder how well their medication for delusion is working. The latest “growth” is now thought to be cash being spent by those who have received compensation from the banks after being miss-sold some of the banks' favourite gambling scams. So as long as the banks keep getting fined and people keep getting compensation, people will keep spending, well those few on the receiving end of the banks con-fund. Hardly the signs of a powerhouse economy in growth. In countries claiming “recovery”, it has been a no-wage increase economy, so a no-growth recovery for the ordinary people.

      However it is not just the UK that is kidding itself on about “growth”, it is a Western malaise, the delusion of the perpetual growth maniacs. It just isn't there. The world economy is in decline, the world's financial institutions are in extreme stress condition. As America tries in vain to save itself, by limiting “quantitive easing” (printing monopoly money) it is adding to the chaos and worries of the rest of the world.

     What this means for you and I, is the threat of deprivation on a scale never witnessed before, as country after country tries to “balance the books” by slashing the social fabric, the living conditions, of the ordinary people. How do you balance the books when the world's total debt is in excess of $700 trillion, and the world's total GDP is only approximately $69 trillion? What this means is that if every penny of the world's wealth was put to paying off the debt, it still would not be clear in ten years time. To make matters worse, more than 90% of the world's money is not real money, it is funny money, phoney money, created monopoly money, it is illusional. Any wonder that the financial house of cards is about to collapse? We have to organise now for that inevitable collapse, we can create a better world free from the cancer of profit and growth.

This from A World To Win:

A contagion of capital flight is hitting Argentina, India, Indonesia, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Hungary and Turkey. A dramatic reversal in the global marketplace, which began in May and is accelerating with every new shock statistic, is forcing the governments of “emerging” economies to savage the living standards for their already low-income populations.

Each country has a different story to tell: worse or better attempts at managing their economies; higher or lower levels of foreign currency reserves; more or less extremes of corruption of government ministers; levels of civil unrest ranging from the benign to insurrectionary. But the source of the crisis invading their borders lies elsewhere, beyond their control. 

- See more at: http://www.aworldtowin.net/blog/sick-global-economy-hit-by-new-contagion.html#sthash.v4CoE9xp.dpuf

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

The Silencing Of The People.

        This matters, this is the squeezing out of you and I, the silencing of the little people. It has to be resisted, or our voices will disappear. This appeal from Avaaz:

      The richest 1% could now control what we all see on the Internet forever. It’s the apocalypse of the Internet as we know it, and will erase the democratic promise of an information highway for everyone the founders of the world wide web imagined.
       Together, our community has built on that vision, using the web to fight corruption, save lives, and bring people-powered aid to countries in crisis. But the US and the EU are on the verge of giving the richest corporations the right to show content fast, while paywalling or slowing down everything else. Avaaz’s ability to show the world citizen journalist footage from Syria, or run campaigns to save our planet is under threat!
        Decisions on both sides of the Atlantic are being made now. But tech innovators, free speech advocates and the best web companies are fighting back. If millions of us join them now we can create the largest call for a democratic and free Internet ever. Sign up now and tell everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/internet_apocalypse_pa_eu/?bwqhjab&v=34958
        Until now, any improvements in the speed and functioning of the Internet benefited all of us — if Rupert Murdoch’s ultra-conservative Fox News got a faster way to stream videos, it also benefitted independent media showing reality on the ground in Ukraine, Syria, or Palestine. Politicians called this “net neutrality” and laws protecting it used to exist in the United States until a court just struck them down. Now, the EU Parliament is threatening to pass regulation that give ISPs the right to carve up the web and control w hat we see, by slowing down or charging for sites that don't pay.
      But we can stop this. First, we will show up with massive global numbers into this week’s public meeting in the United States to decide whether to reinstate Internet protections. Then we will unleash a high powered lobby team to target the EU Parliament to ensure its committees listen to the public. This will be the big first step we need to win these important battles over the next few months.
Web providers like Verizon and Vodafone are lobbying hard for an Internet for the rich. And without a massive response from citizens, they could win, and put our whole community’s work at risk. Most of our Internet is located in the US and the EU so this affects us all. We don’t have any time to lose. Click below to join now:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/internet_apocalypse_pa_eu/?bwqhjab&v=34958
       When our community was less than half of the size it is now, we rallied and helped kill the ACTA treaty and stopped massive Internet censorship laws SOPA/PIPA. Today, we are more powerful than ever. Let’s now join together and ensure that what connects us all stays open.
With hope,
Pascal, Emma, Dalia, Luis, Emilie, Luca, Sayeeda and the whole Avaaz team
    PS - Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community. It's easy to get started - click to start yours now and win on any issue - local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=23917

SOURCES:
On dangers of non-Network Neutrality (ABC news):
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/major-ways-internet-change-net-neutrality/story?id=21541399
Save the Internet
http://savetheinternet.eu/en/
EU telecoms market reforms threaten net neutrality and privacy (Wire d)
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-11/19/eu-telecoms-reform-concerns

Federal court strikes down FCC net neutrality rules (The Verge)
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/14/5307650/federal-court-strikes-down-net-neutrality-rules

Summary of BEREC positions on net neutrality (BEREC)
http://berec.europa.eu/files/document_register_store/2012/12/BoR_(12)_146_Summary_of_BEREC_positions_on_net_neutrality2.pdf

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

Tomorrow's World, A Privatised World??

      In this country we don't seem to be alive to the fact that there is an ideological driven policy of privatisation of everything, not just here in the UK but across the globe. Here in the UK it is happening in towns and cities across the country. The latest, and one of the largest city public assets to be considered for sale to the corporate world, is the Manchester Arena. Manchester, short of cash, has to raise more than £1 billion, so in come the corporate greed merchants and plunder the public assets. Because of the governments policy of "austerity", councils are short of cash and start to sell off the family silver to make up the short fall. They are selling off public art treasures, all public assets, to the private world. Of course we all know that the NHS is being privatised pieces by piece, energy, railways, telephone communications, Royal Mail, already gone, water, arenas, museums, all got to go to make a profit for the corporate greed machine.

      This is being repeated across the world in country after country, as corporatism attempts to gobble up the planet, but in some countries they are not taking it lying down. In Korea there has been a massive strike against the privatisation of their railways. Of course the government there like all the others, will attempt brutally crush any resistance to the financial Mafia's grand plan of, no public assets, everything privatised.

This from International Journal of Socialist Renewal:

January 8, 2014 -- Labor Notes -- South Korea’s railway workers have ended a 22-day strike, the longest such stoppage in the country’s history. Though they didn’t win a clear victory, they succeeded in placing the issue of privatisation in public focus.

The government’s and management’s attack on the strike was ruthless to the point of recklessness, while the public’s solidarity and sympathy with the striking workers continued to rise.

And the full impact of the action has yet to ripple out. Amid rising political tensions, the country’s biggest union umbrella, the 700,000-strong Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), has called for a one-day general strike February 25.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Private Prisons, Corruption And Inhumanity.

        Prisons are always degrading and humiliating, they are the state's attempt to keep control. In spite of centuries of campaigns fighting for prison reform, they are still an anachronism in democracy. Far from being places for "reform" they are cruel and inhumane and often brutal places. Here in the "developed" and advanced capitalist West, as we are being hit by austerity, which translates into less resources for prisons, and though crime figures are falling, we are seeing ever increasing numbers being imprisoned, most prisons are facing overcrowding. The UK is among the highest prison inmates per head of the population in Europe. However we would have to sink much lower in our inhumanity to reach the level of Greece. 

This from Community:

      More than 30 men were crammed into the cell, locked up night and day for weeks or months. Without enough bunks, many slept on the floor. The windows were painted over, blocking out the sun, and the air was thick with cigarette smoke and the reek of the one toilet everyone shared.

    But what might come as the biggest surprise about this prison was its location: In Greece, squarely in Europe. That’s where former prisoner Giorgos Aslanis spent about three months a roughly 40 sq. meter (400 square feet) police holding cell in the northern town of Serres. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in October that conditions in the cell broke European laws against inhuman or degrading punishment and awarded him 8,000 euros ($11,000) in damages.

Read the full article HERE: 

        However, for the real professionals at dehumanising  people and making billions of dollars in the process, you have to go to that leader of the free world, the land of the free, the good ol' US of A. America leads the world in locking up its own people, though it has only 5% of the world's population, it has 25% of the world's prison population. Privatised prisons are probably the pinnacle of corrupt capitalism, Billions of dollars made from enslaving people for anything from vagrancy to drug use. Greedy shareholders growing rich on the misery of society's vulnerable and unfortunates.

Published on Nov 7, 2013

     Today the US is home to 5% of the world's population but a quarter of the world's prisoners. It also has the highest rate of youth imprisonment and on any given day there are more than 70,000 youths in detention. And the biggest winners of this mass incarceration? The for-profit prison companies whose business models essentially depend on locking more and more people up.

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https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/ban...
http://ir.correctionscorp.com/phoenix...
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/24/1512766...
https://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-r...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMa5od...
http://www.eastidahonews.com/2012/06/...
http://boisestatepublicradio.org/post...
http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/ar...
https://www.aclu.org/cca
https://www.aclu.org/maps/sexual-abus...
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-new...
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/judge-...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08...
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/10/2...
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/sh...
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/inde...
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/natio...
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opin...
http://en.avaaz.org/1300/obama-martin...

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The Crime Of Agent Orange, Lingers On.

      In that babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, the true horrors of war are soon of the front page and all is forgotten. Dates and battles are remembered, for a while, especially if our lords and masters can claim them as a victory. However the suffering and permanent damage that wars do to the ordinary people, is seldom reported after the war is over, and we are supposed to carry on as before. But what about the victims of the longterm damage all wars cause. Most people will have heard of Vietnam, lots will know of the Vietnam war, and some will be aware of America's 20 year battle to subdue the people of that small nation, Vietnam. Lots will also know the fact that “agent orange” was used, but be unaware of the extent of its use and the vast area affected, by this chemical warfare on the ordinary people of Vietnam.

      What may be a little less known is the longevity of the chemicals in “agent orange” and the dioxins that come with the substance. Nor will they be aware of the fact that the research that produced this toxic nightmare, goes back to the second World War and was part of the UK and USA's chemical warfare program, with Monsanto at the heart of the project, even away back then it was redundant of any morality.

    Today the Vietnamese people are still suffering the effects of the dioxins released during that criminal action of spraying the crops and vegetation with “agent orange”. They have suffered a host of cancers, birth defects and other illnesses. Even today, certain estimates state that over 5 million Vietnamese are still being exposed to “agent orange” and its cancer producing dioxins.

This from International Journal of Socialist Renewal:

       The Vietnamese government estimates 5 million people were killed with hundreds of thousands still missing and 500,000 children born with birth defects as a result of its use. There are also estimates that up to 5 million Vietnamese are still exposed directly to Agent Orange. The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or have health problems due to Agent Orange.

Exposure to TCDD (dioxin)

      There are two different health effects that must be considered when dealing with dioxin. One is the effect of direct exposure to the individual and the second is the effects on the germline of the individual, both maternal and paternal. The latter is far worse as it signifies there is a permanent effect on the human genome and all future generations. This is one of the horrific legacies of dioxin, only now being understood. (It will be dealt with in a later article).

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Homeless In The Midst Of Wealth.

       Recent figures reveal that the UK has approximately 380,000 people who have no home and live in B&B's or sleep on friends floors and sofas. It is estimated that if this figure was added to those found living on the streets, the figure would reach the criminal figure of over 1 million homeless across the UK. The homeless figure has jumped by 15% since 2007, obviously government policies are pushing these figures up. Of course no matter how horrifying these figures may be, they are not the full picture. Experts agree that it is impossible to accurately assess the true number of homeless in this country as many of them live of the official radar. In London alone it has been assessed that last year 4,672 people slept on its streets, up from 4,077 in the previous year. It is easy to see how the figure would rapidly rise as we take in cities, towns and villages across the land. 

        One of the richest nations on the planet and more than 1 million homeless, what does that tell you about the social structures of this society? Where are our lords and masters priorities? They are intent on subsidising the corporate world to the tune of billions of pounds of tax payers money in the form of a high-speed rail link between London and a couple of cities in the north of England but can't get their head around affordable housing for all. They are throwing billions of pounds of our money at a multination corporate body to build a nuclear power station, but haven't noticed the need to rid our country of the curse of homelessness. The corporate greed machine must take priority, we the people are not on their list. That's capitalism.

      Homelessness, again the word doesn't really convey its true meaning, the word doesn't reveal the misery of the reality of homelessness. Homelessness, is more than no roof. Think of what a home is, to you, to your family and friends, to your social life, to your mental health and ability to support yourself, to the self respect of you and your kids. 

This from Crisis.org:

        Homelessness is about more than rooflessness. A home is not just a physical space, it also has a legal and social dimension. A home provides roots, identity, a sense of belonging and a place of emotional wellbeing. Homelessness is about the loss of all of these. It is an isolating and destructive experience and homeless people are some of the most vulnerable and socially excluded in our society.

     After years of declining trends, 2010 marked the turning point when all forms of homelessness began to rise. However, it is likely that homelessness will increase yet further, as the delayed effects of the economic downturn, cuts to housing benefit and other reforms all start to bite.

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

€200 A Month,--Economic Recovery!!!!

        I know I go on about the planned European sweatshop economy, but it is all falling into place. All the European countries are moving in the same direction but at a  slightly different pace. Greece is just the most advanced in the grand plan. In the UK with wage freezes/cuts, and inflation romping along at around 3%, wage earners here have seen the income reduce by approximately 10% since the "crisis". Where will they be in another 5 years or so? Unless we change the system, we the ordinary people, are on a downward spiral to deprivation. It is not the lack of wealth, it is the system. Like I said, Greece is now well established as on par with some third world countries, In that country, on offer are IT jobs at €200 per month, without insurance. This is a European country, try talking about economic recovery on that salary.

Another report from Teacher Dude: 

Keep Out! - The 78th Thessaloniki International Trade Fair

      Inside the 78th Thessaloniki International Trade Fair the prime minister is giving a speech as prime minister have done for decades on this date. I will not bother to follow the speech, either in person or on TV as Samaras's public addresses are usually leaked well in advance and amount to a little more than  a series of soundbites linked together by the slightest of rhetorical devices, more akin to bloated TV commercials than anything Demosthenes would recognise.
         "The economy is coming round, recovery is on its way, the sacrifices of the people are finally paying off."It's old, old stuff made all the more unconvincing by the fact that every prime minister has sad the same since the financial crisis began in 2009. Yes, the rate of decline in the Greek economy has slowed down to "just" 3.8% but unemployment is still rising, set to reach 30% by the end of the year if the latest Greek trade union research is to be believed.
       On the other hand while Samaras was addressing the nation, safely ensconced behind thousands of riot police the people next to me in the cafe are discussing a mutual acquaintance;
"They're looking for a IT graduate, part time, 5 to 9 and you know what they're offering?   200 euros a month, without insurance, 200!"
       This is is the economic success story that the government and the foreign press are so happy to promote, a country in which salaries do not even begin to cover living costs, even for people with years of experience and advanced qualifications. An economy where millions are unable to start a family or even afford basic health care or a pension. Even if the books balance by the end of the decade the macroeconomic damage being wrought will last for a generation.
         By midday the prime minister will have returned to Athens, his presence having left behind little than a bunch of high sounding promises and a lot of disgruntled commuters. The Trade Fair once again has become the political plaything of the leadership which fails to see that turning a city into war zone every year is not the best way to encourage international trade and especially not Greece's image abroad.

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