WIKILEAKS FOREVER.

For the latest on this go HERE.
This has to be kept alive, the outcome of this will play a large part in determining the shape of our future society. Will government be that of an open society or will it be a closed club for the chosen few from the rich and powerful, as I think it is at the moment. We are governed by consent we should withdraw that consent if those that we elect decide to govern in secret and persecute those who try to open that secret club up to public scrutiny. Your own freedom may well depend on the outcome of this affair.

ann arky's home.

PLEASE DON'T HURT US???

      

         The European Trade Union Confederation is staging a European Day of Action on 29 September next. It will be made up of a Euro-demonstration in Brussels and trade union actions in the various European countries. The European trade unions will be demonstrating against the austerity measures adopted recently by many European countries, and to demand recovery plans in favour of quality jobs and growth.

        This is not enough, little pockets of demonstrators dotted around Europe will not have any effect on the powers that be. What is needed is an indefinite pan-European general strike. To call on the workers to politely form marches here and there asking the financial world not to hurt them too much is a retrograde step. We want to change the system, we don't want more of the same. If we want that better world for all, we can't simply ask for more of what we have just had. All the workers of this world have to do to change it for ever is just simply fold their arms. Stay at home, read a book, take the kids for a walk, go for a cycle, then organise your community and work place the way you want it to be, but don't turn up to be employed by the parasites, occupy your work place.

         This action by the European TUC should be expanded, it should be seen as the opportunity to grasp the moment and take control of our lives and free ourselves from the yoke of exploitation by the parasitical financial greed merchants and their state mouthpieces the politicians. We could take that step to start the creation of that better world based on mutual aid that sees to the needs of all our people and consign this system of greed and profit to the dustbin of history. We don't want to beg for work, we don't want to to say “Please don't cut my social services, my health service or my kids education but do keep exploiting me.” We want to change the world and only we the workers will do that for the benefit of the workers.

ann arky's home.

YEP, IT IS THE SAME OLD NEW PLANS.

   

   No matter how far we go back in our history it is the same old story, the working class being screwed by the rich and powerful and a state that is hell bent on war. Since the "peace" after world war 2, the British state has been fighting in almost every corner of the globe. There were the colonial wars as the "empire" struggled to be free of the British yoke. Then of course there was Egypt, Korea,the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan to mention a few. During all this time the ordinary people of this country have struggle for a decent standard of living and now stand on the brink of a return to the Victorian era poverty. It seems that we can't afford a decent standard of living for the people but we can afford to send our young people all over the world to kill other working class people. Surely we can come up with a better system than this, you know that this system is fashioned to suit the millionaire parasite class and you know that there are alternatives. Isn't about time that we asserted our selves and showed our real strength and ingenuity and fashion that new society to suit the needs of all our people and to hell with the millionaire parasite greedy power hungry war mongers.

   The wee poem is from a previous attack on the working class and was written by one of Glasgow's own.

THE "FIND YOUR VOICE" RAP

"Do not despise the snake for having no horns for who is to say it will not become a dragon" (Ancient Chinese saying)

What do you say when you have no voice

what do you choose when you have little choice

When money talks and you've next to none

What do you say when the day is done.

Do millions have to demonstrate

against poor laws made by the state

for will they listen, will they hell

war propaganda is their main sell

What do you do when you are feeling low

thinking Bush and BLiar just have to go

Every four years there is a vote

The Party needs funds, will sell your coat?

What can you do when it is a crime

that it costs too much for TV time

Only the rich can air their views

to tell us lies and distort the news

So tell the aged, tell the youth

have the courage to tell the truth

Point out their every bluff

Shout it out "enough's enough"

By Paul Anderson 24 April 2004

ann arky's home.

IT'S NO FAIR, IS IT?

ann arky's home.

PROOF THAT THE RICH GET RICHER AND THE POOR GET POORER.

     A recent study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found widening inequalities in all areas of life in Britain. The study, "Life in Britain: Using Millennial Census Data to Understand Poverty, Inequality and Place,"         Some of the key findings are:

       Areas with the highest levels of poor health also tend to have the lowest numbers of doctors, dentists and other health professionals (excluding nurses).

      Areas with high levels of poor health tend also to have high numbers of their population providing informal care for family and friend, as opposed to professional care.

       Areas with the highest proportions of unqualified young people tend to have the lowest number of teachers per head of population. The areas faring the best have four times the density of teachers and one third the rate of unqualified young people. 

       The financial hub of the City of London and the South East accounted for the overwhelming majority of "high-paid jobs." In most other areas, people with very good qualifications are more likely to be employed in lower-paid work. In areas of higher unemployment, those with jobs are less likely to work long hours, but unemployment itself is associated with physical and mental health problems.

      Approximately a million households have three or more cars. About the same number of households that might need a car (those with dependent children, etc.) have none.

      One comment sums it up, "--it is acutely disappointing to discover that so many opportunities and resources still depend on where people live. Wide and persisting inequality is reflected in big differences between 'rich' and 'poor' areas in terms of housing, education and health care as well as economic wealth. Perversely, people living in the poorest neighbourhoods with the greatest needs are often the least likely to have access to the services and support that would help them improve their lives and life chances."

      This failure can be attributed to successive Conservative and Labour governments. The areas with the highest life expectancy 10 years ago are the places that have seen the biggest increase in life expectancy since. Wealth lets you get health.

      Ben Wheeler stated, "The Census data show quite clearly that although living standards have increased in 60 years, the rich and the poor in Britain continue to live in two different worlds."

      The authors of the report have shown Britain as a severely divided society, between those with the greatest need for good health care, education, jobs, housing and transport who continue to have the worst access to opportunities and services 60 years after the founding of the welfare state, and a powerfully rich elite that continues to amass wealth and privilege. All indications are that this divide is widening.

        The rich have rigged voting to make sure nothing changes, if your poor why vote?

        That being the case what do you think will be the outcome of the slashing cuts that are heading the way of the ordinary people of this country? An ever widening gap with the poorest in society heading for deprivation not seen in this country since the 20s/30s.

        Now is the time to organise to protect our people, we can't wait until it is all over and then try to win back some of our conditions. You could fight for a decade and still not be back where we are at present, and that isn't too good is it?

ann arky's home.

RAGE AGAINST ISRAEL, NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION 5 JUNE

       

       The astounding turnout at Monday's emergency protest, when at only a few hours notice, thousands laid siege to David Cameron's residence in Downing Street and then marched to the Israeli Embassy

(see http://bit.ly/aEMHws), was a reflection of the intense rage at Israel's deadly attack on the Gaza flotilla, felt by millions worldwide.

        Ours was just one of hundreds of protests that took place in towns and cities across the globe.

A national demonstration in London this Saturday 5 June has been called by Stop the War, CND, BMI and Viva Palestina. The Gaza Flotilla March will assemble at Downing Street at 1.30 and march to the Israeli Embassy

        Monday's emergency demonstration showed how fast we can mobilise if we use all available means to spread the word as fast as possible. Please do all you can to publicise the demonstration among your friends, in your workplace, in your trade union, in your college or school, in your community group etc.

GAZA FLOTILLA MARCH: SATURDAY 5 JUNE

END THE SIEGE OF GAZA:   FREEDOM FOR PALESTINE

ASSEMBLE DOWNING STREET LONDON 1.30PM

        We urge all local Stop the War groups and trade union branches affiliated to Stop the War to bring their banners on the march.

FOR UPDATES,

PLEASE GO TO THE STOP THE WAR WEBSITE REGULARLY:  http://bit.ly/aEMHws

LONDON STOP THE WAR GROUPS AND SUPPORTERS:

Please note there is a protest today 1 June at 5pm outside the  Israeli Embassy, High Street Kensington.

ann arky's home.

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.

 
ann arky's home.

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

ann arky's home.

A STATEMENT FROM GREECE.

        An employee of the burnt bank speaks out on tonight’s tragic deaths in Athens – On wednesday may 5th during the general strike in Athens 3 people died when molotovs were thrown at a bank which was all closed up and appeared empty but in fact the bosses of the bank had forced the employees to hide there despite their repeated requests to leave. They were told that if they left they would be fired. This is off the occupied London website (http://http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/) and is very necessary counter information by the employees of the bank. The Greek state is using the situation to try and vilify the anarchist movement in Greece so counter information is very important at the moment.

love & rage.

          Please spread Tonight’s tragic deaths in Athens leave little space for comments – we are all very shocked and deeply saddened by the events. To those (on the “Occupied London” blog even) who speculate that the deaths might have been caused purposefully by anarchists, we can only reply the following: we do not take to the streets, we do not risk our freedom and our lives confronting the greek police in order to kill other people. Anarchists are not murderers, and no brainwashing attempted by Greek PM Papandreou, the national or the international media should convince anyone otherwise. That being said, and with developments still running frantically, we want to publish a rough translation of a statement by an employee of Marfin Bank – the bank whose branch was set alight in Athens today, where the three employees found a tragic death. Read the letter, translate it, spread it around to your networks; grassroots counter-information has a crucial role to play at a moment when the greek state and corporate media are leashing out on the anarchist movement over here in Greece.

           I feel an obligation toward my co-workers who have so unjustly died today to speak out and to say some     objective truths. I am sending this message to all media outlets. Anyone who still bares some consciousness should publish it. The rest can continue to play the government’s game. The fire brigade had never issued an operating license to the building in question. The agreement for it to operate was under the table, as it practically happens with all businesses and companies in Greece. The building in question has no fire safety mechanisms in place, neither planned nor installed ones – that is, it has no ceiling sprinklers, fire exits or fire hoses. There are only some portable fire extinguishers which, of course, cannot help in dealing with extensive fire in a building that is built with long-outdated security standards. No branch of Marfin bank has had any member of staff trained in dealing with fire, not even in the use of the few fire extinguishers. The management also uses the high costs of such training as a pretext and will not take even the most basic measures to protect its staff. There has never been a single evacuation exercise in any building by staff members, nor have there been any training sessions by the fire-brigade, to give instructions for situations like this. The only training sessions that have taken place at Marfin Bank concern terrorist action scenarios and specifically planning the escape of the banks’ “big heads” from their offices in such a situation. The building in question had no special accommodation for the case of fire, even though its construction is very sensitive under such circumstances and even though it was filled with materials from floor to ceiling. Materials which are very inflammable, such as paper, plastics, wires, furniture. The building is objectively unsuitable for use as a bank due to its construction. No member of security has any knowledge of first aid or fire extinguishing, even though they are every time practically charged with securing the building. The bank employees have to turn into firemen or security staff according to the appetite of Mr Vgenopoulos [owner of Marfin Bank]. The management of the bank strictly bared the employees from leaving today, even though they had persistently asked so themselves from very early this morning – while they also forced the employees to lock up the doors and repeatedly confirmed that the building remained locked up throughout the day, over the phone. They even blocked off their internet access so as to prevent the employees from communicating with the outside world. For many days now there has been some complete terrorisation of the bank’s employees in regard to the mobilisations of these days, with the verbal “offer”: you either work, or you get fired. The two undercover police who are dispatched at the branch in question for robbery prevention did not show up today, even though the bank’s management had verbally promised to the employees that they would be there. At last, gentlemen, make your self-criticism and stop wandering around pretending to be shocked. You are responsible for what happened today and in any rightful state (like the ones you like to use from time to time as leading examples on your TV shows) you would have already been arrested for the above actions. My co-workers lost their lives today by malice: the malice of Marfin Bank and Mr. Vgenopoulos personally who explicitly stated that whoever didin’t come to work today [May 5th, a day of a general strike!] should not bother showing up for work tomorrow [as they would get fired]. – An employee of Marfin Bank [greek original available]

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COMMUNITY POLICING.

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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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AN APPEAL TO LABOUR PARTY MEMBERS.

   

     To all those socially minded Labour Party members and supporters let me remind you where you are.

     You are in or supporting a Party that lied this country into an illegal, unjust and unnecessary war, with all the bloodshed and misery that has unfolded since. You give strength to a Party that has introduced extraordinary rendition, torture and secret prisons at the core of its “anti-terrorist” strategy. You are the life blood of a Party that is, according to Amnesty International, ripping up the precious freedoms of this country.

      To stay comfortable in such a Party you have to swallow the lies and the spin and the sickening self justification and you will continually bleat about change from within. Such bleating has been heard from the loyal members and supporters since before the 60s. In all that time your Party has continually moved to the right. It isn’t working.

       Take your socially mind conscience out of the Party and on to the streets, join the thousands, perhaps millions would be more accurate, who wish to see real change by community based non hierarchical direct action. Grow up, cut the umbilical cord between you and the Party system, be a free thinking compassionate human being.

 

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THE ISRAELI STATE, JUST ANOTHER BRUTAL STATE.

       Some time ago the media was focusing on the plight of Israelis being forced to end their illegal occupation of Gaza, showing pictures of distressed Israelis being lifted and carried off the illegal settlements. No matter how much they resist, the force against them is never to the extent that they are hospitalised or killed. Nor does it mention that they will each receive $140,000. They also seldom mention that settlements in the occupied West Bank continue to accelerate while Palestinians, whose land it is, are forcibly and brutally evicted as they have been for the last 50 years, with no compensation and in numerous cases hospital and death are part of the eviction process. Those moving onto the illegal settlements on the West Bank are from all over the world, not residents of the Middle East. The only qualification required to grab a piece of somebody else’s land is that you belong to a particular religious faith. The separation wall being built by the Israeli state within their illegal grab of the West Bank is cutting farmers from their fields, workers from their jobs, students from their schools and the sick from hospitals and perhaps the most vicious attack of all is that 90% of the water in Palestine is now under Israeli control.

 

       The catalogue of cruel vindictive crimes heaped on the Palestinian people by the Israeli state reads like some fictional horror story. Since September 2000 the Israeli state machine has seriously injured more than 42,000 Palestinian civilians, killed more than 3,000, it has destroyed over 3,000 homes and damaged more than 43,000. Well over one third of all those injured are under the age of 18. On top of these heinous state crimes the Israeli state machine has also bulldozed 900,000 Palestinian olive and fruit trees plus 28,000 acres of Palestinian farmland, removing the very basic means of survival for the ordinary Palestinian people.

      The Israeli state with its catalogue of vicious crimes against the people of Palestine is not unique in the annals of state history. Being the most powerfully armed state in the area and backed by the world’s most powerful states, it will do what powerful states always do, expand and grab what resources it so desires, be it land, water, oil or whatever. If that means brutal death and destruction, then so be it, if it means genocide, then so be it, Until the people of the Middle East, the rest of the world is not exempt, realise that it is in their mutual interest to end the power of the state with its inherent brutal expansionism and begin to build their society on the basis of equality across and between communities, on communities that are shaped by all those who take part in them and work with co-operation and mutual aid towards a better world for all peoples, then the brutality of this state or that state will continue, war will follow war, occupation will wreak havoc on ordinary people and our children will inherit that brutality.

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WAR WITHOUT END!!!

      

       It is difficult to read through history and find a period when this state has not been at war with that state. If it has not been actual physical war it has been threatening war. With that state hurtling abuse at the next state, each proclaiming their threats have a righteous legitimacy. War is never caused by the people, never is it a case of a bunch of German truck drivers running across the border and attacking a group of French florist. It is always the state, the power mongers, the powerful and the wealthy, egged on by wealthy groups with a vested interest and the people are the ones who are called on to get on with the slaughter and be slaughtered. While the people bleed the various states and the privileged parasitical wealthy collect the gains.

       As long as we hold on to this system of state power, each power structure will see the other as a threat. The wealthy power groups in each state will demand that their interests, wealth and privileges be protected and enhanced at the expense of any co-operation. Wealth is enhanced by grabbing what belongs to others and violence is the state's and the privileged parasites main method, since they don't actually get involved in the violence. Those who actually have to do the “violence” gain nothing. Hence, under the present system we will have war without end.

      "Well, there’ve always been people going around saying someday the war will end. I say, you can’t be sure the war will ever end. Of course, it may have to pause occasionally–for breath, as it were–it can even meet with an accident–nothing on this earth is perfect–a war of which we could say it left nothing to be desired will probably never exist. A war can come to a sudden halt–from unforeseen causes–you can’t think of everything–a little oversight, and the war’s in the hole, and someone’s got to pull it out again! The someone is the Emperor or the King or the Pope. They’re such friends in need, the war has really nothing to worry about, it can look forward to a prosperous future."

Bertolt Brecht, Mother Courage (1938)

 

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WORKERS, KNOW YOUR HISTORY

        

          Like the workers of every city in the world, Glasgow's workers history has been a continuous history of struggle which continues today, Our struggles of the present day should not be seen as something new, it is the same struggle down the centuries for a decent life, a fairer society, and justice for all. If we forget our history we get a distorted view of society and see today's struggles as blips of discontent and not as the same battle to free ourselves from the grip of exploitation. A struggle to take control of our own lives and shape society for the benefit of all.

June 1725 - The malt tax riots:

Due to the hatred of the 'Malt Tax' there were wide spread riots across the country. The most serious was June 1725 in Glasgow. When Revenue Officers arrived to assess the Maltsters, they were met by large angry crowds who barred their way. On June the 24th a large crowd decided to attack the house of Duncan Campbell of Shawfield believing that he had supported the tax in the Houses of Parliament. The angry scenes prompted the Lord Advocate Duncan Forbes to call in troops from Edinburgh.

15th February 1800:

Unemployment and high taxes during this period caused wide spread demonstrations which culminated on the 15th. of February 1800 when angry and hungry crowds took to the streets. They marched along Argyle Street attacking meatsellers and grocers’ shops. Meanwhile crowds in Townhead and Calton were also smashing into similar shops. The authorities called out the troops to disperse the rioters.

1812 weavers strike:

1812 saw the largest strike in Scotland until that date. The weavers were on strike in an attempt to protect their living standards. The strike was on the whole peaceful, though the Magistrates and the Government claimed otherwise in an attempt to come down heavy on the strikers. The strike lasted three months, it eventually run out of funds and collapsed. Because of this strike Trade Unionism was declared illegal in Scotland and remained so until 1824. Seven strikers were arrested and charged with 'illegal combination' and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

6th March 1848:

There was a serious riot in the city of Glasgow on the 6th of March 1848. It came about when the unemployed operatives had expected a distribution of provisions. The provisions never appeared and the starving and angry crowds set off up Irongate and other main streets of the city centre breaking into food and gun shops. Business in the city came to a stand-still and all city centre shops closed. The people continued to march through the streets shouting 'bread or revolution'. Eventually the 'riot act' was read. Other groups marched off in other directions entering food shops and demanding bread. The alarmed authorities, sent to Edinburgh for more troops.

1915 rent strikes:

1915 saw Glasgow and Clydeside districts organise a massive grass roots movement against large rent increases. Over 25,000 tenants refused to pay rent increases. The struggle spread to the Clydeside engineering and shipyards, forcing the government to introduce the 1915 Rent Restriction Act.

1919 'forty hour week' strike:

1919 the struggle for a shorter working week came to a head with a strike which had the support of practically all the workers in the area. Marches and demonstrations were organised. One massive demonstration in George Square caused the authorities some concern and the police baton charged the crowd creating mayhem. The government fearing revolution sent English troops with tanks into the city.

 

More of working class struggles in Glasgow's

 

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THE THEATRE OF ELECTION.

    

      As our unloved politicians gallop maniacally around the land seeking enhancing photo-opportunities and vomiting meaningless sound bites, it tells you all you need to know about our political system. It is all show and appearances, it is a personality contest, wives included. They call it democracy, I call it theatre. It is baffling how in a country that has been fighting an illegal war in Afghanistan for the last nine years can run up to an election and not one of the main parties mentions the war. Is this a coincidence or is it a pre-arranged set up by the leaders of these little political cabals to make their jabberings all on the narrowest of topics where they can speak volumes but say nothing that is related to reality.

      Imagine living in a land where the system allows you real influence and real choice. Imagine at election time engaging in debate about the war and how to end it, is the “war on drugs” a waste of time and resources, the pointless expenditure on a nuclear deterrent, should we have a religious or a secular society, why do we allow the pharmaceutical industry to bleed the our National Health Service, should we permit the privatization of the Health Service, Can we ever hope to openly debate at election time the morality of the British arms industry, the ineffectiveness of our prison system, or the unfair distribution of wealth within our society, why do we still have a Monarchy. Glory be, that would be going too far.

      What is an even greater stretch of the imagination is having been able to debate any of the above, is the possibility of that debate having any influence on those elected. No matter what is debated, it has no bearing on the policies of the elected government, that just wouldn't be British politics, that might be getting too close to democracy.

     Only with the abolition of the state and all its authoritarian institutions and replacing them with a system of free association, voluntary co-operation and mutual aid based on sustainability that sees to the needs of all our people and not to the needs of the privileged parasites that control this type of society, can we hope for fairer and just society. We need an society of communities controlled by all those who take part in those communities working in federation with each other.
For ann arky's view on elections READ.

     

 

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WHY WASTE YOUR TIME VOTING?

     

      Another election trundling towards us like a dinosaur from the ancient past. All the same old verbal waffle, the same patronising claptrap and theatrical performances. The same old sleaze mongers and corporate poodles trying to tell us, everything will be different this time if we vote them into the pig trough that is the Westminster House of Corruption.

      Surely we have learnt enough to know that voting will change nothing for us the ordinary people. Politics and the party political system is all about big business and how the shareholders minders, the government, can further their aims and protect their wealth and privileges. The very questions they ask are part of the problem, the way they form and frame the problems is restricting the debate to a narrow vein that suits them.

     To break out of this straight jacket imposed by the privileged parasites we have to ignore the party political circus and the election and start to talk to each other at street level and at community level, perhaps there we will begin to formulate our answers round the problems that we ourselves can identify with in our everyday lives. Our lives are dependent on Prime Ministers, shareholders, parasites and sleazy politicians, only if we hand them the power by abdicating control of our own lives. We the ordinary people make, grow and distribute everything in this world, they need us to maintain their privileged position, we don't need them. We can do it all in a fairer and more just manner without the profit motive. Our lives would be so much richer if took control of our communities in federation with all other communities and sent the party political system and its bed companion the corporate world, to the dustbin of history. So to sort our problems, don't vote, talk to your neighbours and workmates about your problems and see what answers you develop. I'm sure it will be much better than the crap that is dropped on you by the present system.

 

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LOCAL WHITE SLAVES.

    

     When people in this country talk of and condemn slavery they are invariably talking about that abomination where we “civilised” whites, ripped poor unfortunate Africans from their homes and shipped them half way across the world, brutalised them and forced them to work as machines that were possessions of the plantation owners. We are alas, rather reluctant to admit that some our upper crust individuals in Scotland made quite a fortune from this slave labour.

     However what is completely glossed over is the white slavery that went on here in our own Bonnie Scotland. The Scots landed gentry and industrial bosses were not too bother about enslaving their own white Scots brothers. In a move to protect the Scottish landlords the pre-Union Scottish parliament, enslaved colliers, saltiers, lead miners and fisher folk. Another form of free labour was the practice that was encouraged by the authorities as a way of reducing vagrancy, masters were encouraged to seize able bodied beggars and retain them as slaves.

     There was also the the business of families to avoid starvation selling themselves as indentured servants. During the slavery period there were as many as 100,000 Scots worked in the American plantations as indentured labour, they weren't slaves, but that was in name only, to all intents and purposes they were slaves. The UK parliament outlawed the practice when it abolished slavery. 

     If we look at our history and count those of our ancestors who worked for the “landed gentry” for no wages, then we can assume that there were millions over the years who in this country could be classified as slaves.

     Now of course we are all wage slaves, shackling ourselves to mortgages, credit cards and other debt in an attempt to gain some sort of living standard, the system hasn't really changed, it is just that some of the slaves have more goodies to reward them for their labour.

 

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DON'T THEY KNOW THERE'S A WAR ON?

From: STOP THE WAR.

    The main political parties in the coming general election don't want to mention the war in Afghanistan. They all support it, but they know it is opposed by the majority of the electorate, who want all the British troops withdrawn.

    The Afghan war has led to the deaths of 280 British soldiers and an estimated 30,000 Afghans. As the death toll and the levels of expenditure rise, the politicians' silence is matched by a consensus between the three main parties over proposed savage cuts in public services.

    This year the government will spend £3.8 billion on the war in Afghanistan, almost the same amount it plans to cut from the National Health Service.

     We have now had nine years of wars that the British public did not support, and Stop the War is asking its supporters and local groups to take every opportunity to make sure the issue is not ignored by election candidates seeking our votes.

2) HOW TO ASK CANDIDATES WHERE THEY STAND ON THE WAR

     On Stop the War's website from Wednesday 7 April, you will be able to email the election candidates in your constituency on where they stand on the war, either by using our model letter

and questions or by writing your own text. As the election campaign progresses, we will publish replies from candidates and list those who have not replied. The questions to candidates in Stop the War's model letter are:

1 Do you support the immediate withdrawal of British and NATO troops from Afghanistan?
2 Did you support the war in Iraq?
3 Will you oppose any military attack on Iran by the United States or Israel?
4 Do you support the immediate closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison?
5 Are you opposed to the renewal of Trident nuclear weapons?
6 Do you oppose the attacks on Muslims and the growing Islamophobia in British society?
7 Do you agree that the use of anti-terrorist laws to restrict the right of protest is an attack on civil liberties?

     We are encouraging all our supporters to use the online facility to contact their local candidates and to report back to us the responses. We need to know from people seeking

election as our representatives in parliament, what their views are on all the key issues of the day.

      You can also telephone or write to the candidates by letter. If you plan to go to hustings meetings, ask the candidates to give their views on the war. Please let us know of any

responses you get, as we will be collating all this information into our survey of candidates' attitudes towards the war.

     If you would like to help a Stop the War group in your area campaign to make the war an issue in this election, contact the national office: office@stopwar.org.uk or 020 7801 2768

 

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