Glasgow May Day 2018.

     May Day would not go unmarked in Glasgow, as would be expected, a motely band of anarchists, socialists, wobblies and diggers, etc. set forth from George Square. Headed by a banjo and singing they threaded their way past the Merchants House, past the undergrond, up to the green man that is the Donald Dewar statue, Glasgow's icon of Labourism. There they joined stalls, musicians, singers and poets.

     The proceedings opened with a splended rendition of Preacher and a Slave sung by Brendan in a resplendent red jacket. By now some passers-by joined the group, swelling the numbers. Brendan McLaughlin was followed by the wonderful soaring vioce of Joe Craig, recalling the Spanish Civil War. The crowd were now treated to Pauline Vallance playing the clarsach, her first song being self-penned about a May Sunday. Then followed some poems by Rab Fullerton and Paul Anderson, more songs this time from Pauline Bradley. Things kept lively, and feet kept tapping, with several  tunes played on the pipes by Tommy Kayes.

       Living rent and Scottish independence speakers followed, and then a Anti-Austerity/Class War spokesperson, gave a conversational account of their visit to the Scottish Parliament to give Esther McVey, government's Minister works and pensions a small taste of her own medicine.

     The event closed with more songs from Joe, Pauline and Brendan.

      A group retired to the Scotia Bar for more chat and songs, by 2pm., the temperature had dropped and some stalls packed up among them Clydeside IWW, Living Rent, and Westgap. An earlier threat by an "official" regarding Class War posters put up on a shop window, evaporated as nae polis showed up.

     The afternoon was stimulated by other events, old friends passing by were greeted, new enquirers were given leaflets and info on History Walk, Wednesday, evening, 6pm. 2nd May, Montrose Street, and the Picnic on the Green, Sunday May 6th., 2pm. Glasgow Green.

       The afternoon's events, which were a great success, were filmed by City Strolls, thanks Bob. Report by Keith, edited by J.C.

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

The Riot.

The Riot.

 

Surrounded by unaffordable commodities,

offered illusion as reality,

 pushed to pursue the latest

worthless fashion fetish

the individual walks in anger;

trapped by perfect symbols

of a corrupt capitalist system,

everything for sale,

anything can be bought,

including human dignity.

 

Haunted by the spectre of counter attack

by the many, by the dispossessed,

the power brokers of the system, push

for social controls that leave us 

powerless to express our desire

to be alive,

they struggle with stealth and raw power

to silence the cries of the excluded;

their success will last

as long as the many fear

the power, freedom has to offer. 

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

 

KILL THE CUTS--CHANGE SOCIETY!!

     

     Tuesday sees well manicured millionaire Osborne, on behalf of the millionaires club, launch his attack on the working class via his emergency budget. This will be the first step to take the working class back to the thirties, back to Victorian poverty. We have to show that we are not going down that road just to save the bond markets and some of his other millionaire friends from suffering some financial loss. They want to safe guard their fortunes at our expense, they know it is a class war, we pay for the problems, not the millionaires that caused the problems. To them, that's the way it should be. We have to show that we also recognise this as a class war and we know who our enemies are. We are not in the same club as that bunch of pampered, parasitical, millionaire hypocrites.

         On Tuesday 22 June there will be a demonstration and rally in George Square Glasgow from 3pm onwards. There will be a host of speakers speaking out against the cuts but no doubt some will be asking for you to vote them into power next time round. That's not the answer, the rally and demonstration is all well and good as a first phase to show our opposition to this savage attack on our living standards and show that we will act in solidarity with all our communities. However the struggle must continue into the workplaces and the local communities. Standing in George Square listening to speakers will not stop the cuts.

        It was on July 31st 1925 that then Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin made the following statement; “All the workers of this country have got to take reductions in wages to help to put industry on its feet.” Yes, they seem to have been a wee bit more honest in those days, no crap about us all being in this together for the sake of the country. Less than a year on from that statement Britain was in the grip of a general strike. The entire working class was solid but were sold down the river by the trade unions. We must learn from that and never let control leave the grass roots. All action against the cuts must be driven and controlled by the people involved, don't play follow-my-leader into the trap of change the party in power and waving at a new smiling shiny leader.

      Workers control, communities controlled by those in that community working in federation with each other to change society, not to change the leader. We don't need leaders, prime ministers, kings or presidents, their record doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

 

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ISRAEI TERROR ON THE HIGH SEAS!!!

The death toll after the Israeli assault on the Gaz aid flotilla is now reported to be over 20. The attack took place in international waters, making it a major violation of international law. Imagine the response if such an attack had been carried out by Iran. We would now be at war.
     Below is athe press release issued by Stop the War earlier, calling for the British government to condemn the attack and to break links with Israel.

See the Stop the War website for links to videos of the Israeli attack: http://bit.ly/aEMHws

Please use all means you can -- by email, text, Facebook, Twitter, phone -- to publicise today's emergency demonstration.

EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION TODAY
MONDAY 31 MAY 2.00PM DOWNING STREET LONDON

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BANKERS ROULETTE!!

     

       The monotonous call from the two well manicured public school boys and their cabal of millionaires in the cabinet, is “we must cut the national debt”. All their heated waffle is about where and by how much, nobody asks the WHY. The banks and the big financial institutions bet their lot on the roulette wheel of sub-prime mortgages and lost a packet. They turned to their bed partners, the governments and demanded that they make up the losses, with taxpayers money of course. The very obliging governments duly made good the bankers losses and lumbered us with this massive debt. Now those self same financial institutions, banks and bond holders, are concerned that the governments have too much debt and could default and if they default it is the banks and the bond holders that now stand to lose billions. As the can't ask the already bust nations to bail them out again, the only alternative is to get the mountain of debt down by hacking at the government expenditure. That means slashing public services, public sector salaries, destroying the health service, mutilating the education system and heaping thousands more onto the unemployment queue. So basically by sending the ordinary people back to the Victorian era of poverty and deprivation the banks and bond holders will be protected from making huge financial losses.

         So there you have it, strip the public naked and save the billionaires from losing some of their loot. It's a good game if you can get away with it, and it is up to us to see if the do or don't. What do you think? Are we daft enough to let them get away with it, or do we still have some self respect left?

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THE HATCHET STARTS TO SWING!!

       

       Culture and Sport Glasgow workers from unions Unison, Unite, BECTU and GMB will be striking on Friday 28 May and Monday 31 May.  This is a continuation of the fight from the strikes on the April 30 and May 6.

       Strikers will again be picketing major Culture and Sport Glasgow holdings across the city, including Kelvingrove Museum, the People's Palace and the Burrell Collection.  Strikers are protesting because CS Glasgow is:

       Cutting all overtime payments to single time; downgrading some jobs to impose pay cuts of £500 - £2,000 per year; and ending premium rates for work on six public holidays.

       Strikers would appreciate solidarity at the pickets. Anarchist Federation members will be at at least one picket site - if you'd like to meet up, email glasgow@afed.org.uk.

        These are your libraries and sports centres, apart from undermining the conditions of the staff, these cuts will put in jeopardy the proper functioning of these facilities. Try to imagine your city without the array of libraries and sports facilities we have. They are far from perfect but to cut and hack at what we already have will deprive many young and old from what meagre facilities we now posses. It will be a poorer city for all of our people if they go ahead with these cuts. We have to defend what we have from the onslaught of cuts that our new millionaire cabinet are going to do their damnedest to inflict on the ordinary people of this country. It is not just a city wide appeal for solidarity, it is a country wide fight.

 
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SOME THOUGHTS FROM THE BNP.

      These are just some of the thoughts that the BNP scumbags haven't got round to writing into their manifesto. Though given the support and time, these and other abhorrent ideas will be come their open aims.

    

  In February 2009 following the death of the six-year-old son of David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader, Jeffray Marshall, the central London BNP organiser, said: “We live in a country today which is unhealthily dominated by an excess of sentimentality towards the weak and unproductive. No good will come of it.”

      Marshall continued his sick tirade, stating that although it would be “a kindness” to kill children with disabilities”, this was not the same as advocating such a measure as compulsory state policy. “But so what if it is,” he declared. “At least we would all know where we stand. There is actually not a great deal of point in keeping these sort of people alive, after all.”

Mark Collett BNP Director of Publicity said about AIDS: “It is a friendly disease because blacks, drug users and gays have it.”

     Tony “The bomber” Lecomber has advocated a “racially purer” Britain through the sterilisation of the poor, the sick and the disabled. Lecomber even thinks that the rich are “genetically superior” to ordinary people and that poor people shouldn’t be allowed to have children.

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DEMOCRACY VILLAGE UNDER ATTACK

  
      Activists in Parliament Square, who have been camping out in protest against the war in Afghanistan, are being threatened with eviction in the run up to the Queens Speech next week. They are asking for people to visit them to show support. Send messages to: supportdemoracyvillage@gmail.com
They can also be followed on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Democracyville

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Citrus worker after citrus worker say...

"I have not complained because I have my family to support and I'm afraid to lose my job." - Marcelino Tepec


"I do not file a claim against my boss for fear of retaliation. I'm afraid he will no longer give me work." - Pule Vargas

"I know my legal rights are being violated by this contractor, but I do not complain because my other co-workers do not complain and I am afraid to speak up for myself." - Javier Cantor

That's why we want to tell you what's been happening in California's citrus groves and ask for your financial assistance.

Narcizo Peralta has worked for a labor contractor in the citrus orchards for nine years. When asked about his employer, he begins a litany of abuses that bother him deeply. "... I work in the citrus and they do not provide water for us. We have to take our own water. They do not provide us with equipment nor do they pay us the minimum wage. When someone gets hurt on the job, the crew boss cusses us out."

The first three items on Narcizo's list are blatantly illegal. If an employer pays less than twice the minimum wage - and citrus growers pretty much all do - they must provide tools and can't expect workers to purchase their own. Yet Narcizo's co-workers report they are required to buy shears, sacks, and gloves out of their own pockets. Employers must also pay the state's minimum wage.

Agricultural employers must provide clean drinking water for workers. Can you imagine working under the hot California sun without it? They are also supposed to provide sanitary bathrooms. But workers report that the bathrooms, when they are available, are filthy.

Rafael Vega has worked for various labor contractors for about 20 years, so he knows what he's talking about when he notes the ways that contractors cheat workers. "This contractor paid us in cash and one day me and my co-worker asked her to pay us with a check so that we could report to social security, and she became upset and fired us all, the entire crew!"

Your donation helps us do the legal work to take the workers' claims to the California Agricultural Labor Board and the courts -- as well as organizing in the fields and meeting with workers in their homes. Please be as generous as you can. Thank you.
https://secure.ufw.org/page/contribute/citrus10
 
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AREN'T ELECTIONS WONDERFUL!!

        

        Comment on that “coalition” government from the pillar of the Tory party the Telegraph which states in its leading article;

         “They [Cameron/Clegg] may be making a virtue out of a necessity, but they are doing it with brio... Such starry-eyed optimism is engaging, but should be treated with caution, particularly given the inexperience of the new administration...”

           While Benedict Brogan in the same paper states;

           "The danger is that an exhausted nation will believe its new leaders, and be sorely disappointed when their brave new world turns out to be a mirage."

           Of course you and I know that these two public school boys will indulge in the same old cuddly up to the rich and powerful, their group, and make the ordinary people pay the price.

           The smiling made up faces of the new kids in town will not make the cuts any easier on us, nor will it do anything for those joining the rising dole queue. We have been to the theatre, we've seen the show, it is now over. Time to go home and face reality and think how to survive the coming onslaught to be delivered by the smiling faces and well manicured hands of those who are immune to such ravages.

 
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ONE BIG FAMILY!!!

One of David Cameron's ancestors: King William IV (1765–1837), uncle of Queen Victoria

   

     So we are all in this together!! Well from the back ground of our new Prime Minister it would seem that they are all one big family, but in no way related to you or I, or our world. He hails from that little bunch of privileged parasites that have held the reins of power for far too long, and no doubt will do all in his power to see that things stay that way. We can rest assured that he wont be upsetting any of his cousins etc.

    "David Cameron is a direct descendant of George I, George II, George III, and King William IV (great × 5 grandfather) and his mistress Dorothea Jordan (and thus fifth cousin, twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II As an illegitimate descendant of William IV, Cameron is not in the line of succession to the British throne. He is the nephew of Sir William Dugdale, once the chairman of Aston Villa Football Club, and Birmingham-born documentary film-maker Joshua Dugdale is his cousin.[16] In May 2009, tabloid newspaper The Sun published a discovery by amateur genealogist Tony Andrews that Labour politician Harriet Harman is related to David Cameron through her aunt's marriage to his great uncle.
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cameron#Background

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JUSTICE FOR PALASTINIANS.

       Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JfJP) have organised a short UK tour by one of the Shministim - Or Ben-David - a 19 year old Jewish Israeli woman who has refused to enter military service and has been imprisoned three times as a result. The Shministim - all 12th grade high school graduates - in the tradition of conscientious objectors worldwide, have taken an incredibly brave and inspirational stand in refusing to serve in the IDF in opposition to Israeli policies of occupation and oppression of Palestinians.

      Or will be spending a couple of nights in Scotland - a great opportunity to meet Or and hear first hand about the Shministim campaign. More on the Shministim here   http://www.shministim.com/

     On Wednesday 12th May, 5.30 pm, Or will be speaking at the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Palestine in Edinburgh.

     On Thursday 13th May - 7.30 pm - Public Meeting at STUC, 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow G3 6NG.

     The meeting is being jointly sponsored by Scottish Jews for a Just Peace and Scottish Friends of Palestine 

All Welcome.

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THE NEW WESTERN FASCISM.

       

       Warrantless searches, phone tapping, torture, kidnapping, indefinite imprisonment without charges, denial of legal representation, a continuous assault on our civil liberties, you name it, all part of the free democratic West. We slumbered, we are now in the grip of neo-fascists with an agenda aimed at protecting a privileged elite and using the unbridled power of an authoritarian government to enhance and protect their wealth.

      They are not wearing black shirts, nor stomping down our main streets in their shiny black boots and they are not burning books. To most people Fascist means swastika waving rallies and chants against the Jews. They are wrong. Today’s fascists are radical, conservative, corporate, authoritarian nationalists. They always play the fear card, terrorists from abroad, al-Qaeda, the continuous war against the enemy over there, then claim they need the power to protect us.

       The longer we slumber the tighter their grip until all freedom and civil liberties are a thing of the past. They will not reverse the trend of their own accord, they will never willingly relinquish their power. This is no time for slumber, this is a time to challenge that power, the gangrenous marriage of state and corporate power must be broken, dismantled, atomised and buried in the dustbin of history. Power must belong to the people who make up our society or it belongs to the putrid, pampered, privileged parasites of the new era of the fascist/corporate/state. If we continue to slumber our children will inherit a world of violence, deprivation, control and punishment, while the elite gorge on the fruits of our children’s labour.

 

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JUSTICE AT LAST!!!

So the election is over and the British people have spoken,--and there verdict,- a hung parliament. All that remains now to be done is to set a date when we can actually march them all to the scaffold and carry out that verdict.

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RISE UP OR SUFFER!!!

          

          As the hatchet is taken to the living conditions of the Greek people the rest of the European working class can either look on as bystanders living the illusion that it wont happen to them, or they can be realists and join in solidarity with the Greek working class in the knowledge that they are next in line. It is much better to pre-empt the onslaught on your living conditions rather than trying to win back what has been slashed from you.

           We should have no illusions, we in Britain are heading back to the Victorian era of working class poverty once the elections are out of the way. Once the new millionaires are in the seats of power the real carnage will begin. There will be massive cuts to all social services, raging unemployment, wage cuts and wage freezes, higher taxes, lower pensions and working longer to get that meagre pension. There will be no care home places for the elderly and infirm, no nursery places unless you are prepared to pay through the nose. There has been estimates of council budgets being cut from 20% to 25%. So if you think the council isn't doing enough at the moment, well imagine what they will be able to do with a quarter less money in their purse.

           It is only common sense to fight back in self defence, we can't just sit back and let the financial pundits grab billions of taxpayers money while we bleed and crawl. Our very generous government handed the financial world billions of our tax payers money, which was gleefully accepted and in return the same financial world now tells us our debt is too high and the working class will have to pay to reduce this mountain of debt. Does that sound like your government is taking care of you?? 

           We don't owe anybody anything, we the working class make everything in this world, we grow all the food, we transport and distribute everything in this world. At no time has the working class of the world been living beyond its means. However the parasites of the political and financial class have been since the birth of capitalism.

           The capitalist system has lurched from one crisis to another and it is always the poor, the working class, that have to take the pain, yet they are never the ones that have gained the most. This "crisis" could be the greatest opportunity the world's working class has ever had. A chance to change the system once and for all to a system of justice. A system based on mutual aid that sees to the needs of all our people, a system freed from the grip of the parasites and their insatiable desire for ever increasing profits. A system of free association, voluntary co-operation and sustainability.

           We have the opportunity to realise the people's dream, we could be nurturing a new spring, ushering in a summer of justice, equality and a society free from the fear of deprivation

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COMMUNITY POLICING.

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POLICE SPYING.

Press Release from Scotland Against Criminalising Communities

10.30am Friday 30 April 2010

         Civil liberties group Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC) is calling on Scotland's SNP Government to take urgent action to stop police using  "stop and question" powers at Scotland's ports and airports as opportunities to try to recruit informers to spy on our Muslim community.

          The move follows allegations that a Muslim man, Asif Ahmed, was recently asked to to work for Special Branch to spy on the Muslim community after being stopped and questioned at Edinburgh airport under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Asif Ahmed will be speaking at a press conference being hosted in London this morning by the human rights group Cageprisoners. The press conference is being held at the Frontline Club (2nd Floor, 13 Norfolk Place, Paddington, London W2 1QJ) at 10.30am  

          Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allows police to stop and question travellers at ports and airport "for the purpose of determining whether they are a person who is or has been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism." Failure to answer questions is a criminal offence. Police do not need to have any grounds for suspicion before questioning someone under Schedule 7.  

          It is completely unacceptable for police to exploit people who find themselves in this frightening and vulnerable situation by trying to recruit them as informers. It is particularly despicable that they targeted Asif Ahmed in his way. He and his wife recently endured the trauma of a racist attack while travelling by train from Nottingham. 

         Schedule 7 is a draconian piece of legislation that denies travellers - including British citizens - the limited right of silence that they enjoy in all other circumstances. SACC has long campaigned for its repeal. In the meantime, we urge police to refrain from abusing these powers to pressure people into spying for them. 

         Terrorism legislation is the responsibility of the Westminster Government but policing in Scotland is controlled by the Scottish Government.  The Scottish Government must insist that police stop using Schedule 7 as a recruitment tool. 

          In June 2008 the Scottish Government announced that it was to provide Scotland’s police forces with an additional £3.8 million to combat terrorism.  Some of this money was spent on policing airports and ports. It is unacceptable that funding provided by the SNP is being used to intimidate and antagonise our Muslim community. 

          Schedule 7 questioning has been a frequent source of friction between police and Scotland's ethnic minorities. In October 2008 the Scottish Afghan Society held a well supported demonstration outside Strathclyde Police HQ demanding an end to harassment at Glasgow airport. 

           Police attempts to recruit ordinary people as spies don't just target the Muslim community. Underhand tactics by Scottish police made headlines last year when environment campaigner Matlda Gifford taped police trying to recruit her.  

More information:   Richard Haley contact@saccnet.org.uk  07936432519

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ENDLESS BABBLE.

Just a few thoughts on the UK elections campaign.

ENDLESS BABBLE.

The questions arise. Why war and hunger?

Why does poverty continue to linger?

Why such need in a world of wealth?

Why put a price on a child’s health?

Confused and angry the public stand

gazing in disbelief at this pathetic band.

Those shiny politicians designed by spin

their street credibility paper thin,

the great persuaders looking the mood

struggling so hard just for our good!

Masters of the art of wheeling and dealing

exceptional experts at legal stealing.

Enter the Media, drowning us all in trivial text,

everything you need know

of scandal and sport, crime and sex.

Together they create a world of confusion

all fashion and style, a vicious illusion.

So no matter how often we point at need,

we always drown in a sea of greed,

no debate entered into, no answers found,

the waffle the babble goes round and round.

 

 

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FACTORY LOCKOUT.

    

  From LABOUR START

      We've received an urgent request for help from workers at a garment factory in the Philippines.

      A hundred workers have been locked out for more than two months now, camped out in front of the main gates of the Mactan Export Zone, which is one of the largest in the country.

     As the union put it, "The fight of the Alta Mode workers is a struggle for job security and workers rights." Alta Mode supplies garments to such global brands as Abercrombie & Fitch, whose 'social compliance manager' is one of the targets of this protest. No union has managed to successfully organize workers in the three decades that the Mactan Export Zone has been in existence.

     Let's put an end to the "no union, no strike" policy of those export zones and support the Alta Mode workers.

Please take a minute and sign up to the campaign -- and then spread the word to your fellow union members.

Thanks very much.

Eric Lee.
 

 
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LAWS WITHOUT DEBATE -- DEMOCRACY MY AR**

 Parliamentary wash-up rubber stamps DNA retention of innocent 

       The controversial retention of DNA and other materials of innocent people for 6 years was passed as part of the so called "parliamentary wash-up" before parliament was dissolved. When a General Election is called all Bills not passed on the date when parliament is dissolved are lost. To get around this politicians use something called the "wash-up" whereby the major parties horse-trade over legislation that has not yet made it all the way through the parliamentary procedure. The new DNA retention law is contained in the Crime and Security Act which is just one of many new acts that have been snuck through without proper parliamentary debate. The European Court of Human Rights in 2008 ruled that the UK government's retention of the DNA of innocent people was unlawful - it remains to be seen whether the new 6 year retention is compatible with that ruling. During the wash-up a total of 18 bills were passed into law.
More details HERE

For a list of bills passed without proper debate see:
 http://news.parliament.uk/2010/04/the-end-of-the-2005-2010-parliament/

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