You Can Cut Down All The Flowers, But You Can't Stop Spring From Returning.

        The Magazine Avalanche is always packed with interesting and informative articles, this latest one No.10 is no exception and is available as a free download HERE:

     WE all know, or should know that the state cannot survive without control and will always attempt to silence any voices of dissent, suppress any attempt at self organisation, and try to intimidate the population into submissiveness. We owe it to show our solidarity with those who have struggled against that unforced control and find themselves locked in hell-hole cages of the state's prison system.

       The following article is one from Avalanche10, calling for support and solidarity. When the state attempts to crush and destroy dissent, we should remember the words of Pablo Neruda, "The state can cut down all the flowers, but it can't stop spring from returning."
      Avalanche 10:  These past months, in different cities, including during unpermitted demos or riots, many of us have been thrilled by the number of offensive actions in the street. From clashes with the guard dogs of the state and property to the broken windows of shops and even the pillaging of their contents; from attacks on journalist-cops to overcoming the pacifiers of the day: all of this has shaken the arrogance of the powerful. In all forms of struggle – which aren’t limited to “social movements” -- self-organization and direct action are indispensable if we are to break with the pacification world of commodities and with state terrorism. Because to claim that it’s unimaginable for individuals to directly oppose the existing order is just a veiled way of saying that social revolt is simply impossible.
      Repression is not just the moment when the flashball or baton comes to strike recalcitrant bodies, it’s each moment of daily life under the domination of the State and Capital, through their thousands of omnipresent psychological and physical manifestations that coerce the poor into accepting a shitty life. It’s the prisons that lock up ever more people for ever longer sentences, in order to punish, isolate, break, and store them, out of sight of the peaceful consciences of good citizens. It’s also the outside prison, built from measures like electronic bracelets, house arrest, exclusion areas, bail conditions, and so on.
        The Kalimero solidarity fund for prisoners of the social war was created in the days following the movement against the CPE and has existed for ten years now in the Paris area. Its first text laid out the basis for its activities in these terms: “Because we know that the police and the justice system are nothing but machines of war that seek to crush all desire for revolt, we will not tearfully position ourselves as victims. The task we set for our selves is to provide concrete, material support to our comrades and friends (even if we don’t know them) primarily though monthly stipends for prisoners, technical support for their defense, and the creation of a counter-force both inside and outside the court.” Currently and for the past several month, we have been sending regular mandates to many people locked up, including those awaiting trial for the attack on the police car that was burned during the demonstration on May 18, 2016, to one of the rioters from Beaumont-sur-Oise held in custody after the death of Adama Traore at the hands of the gendarmes in July 2016, and to a comrade sentenced to ten months in prison following the ransacking “Jaguar” demo on April 14 2016.
       Several initiatives have already been organized to continue topping up the fund, such as the concert last October in Montreuil during the weekend of solidarity with prisoners of the social war. Because we don’t intend to simply react to repression against the so-called “social movement”, we also seek to place our actions within a continuity of revolt, which can be individual or collective and can take many forms. Because the sentences and pre-trial custody handed down by judges during the instruction are far too long. Because the Kalimero fund can only send these monthly stipends if there’s a number of different initiatives to bring in the cash. Because there is no truce in the social war. For these reasons, we call on all of your to more than ever increase your solidarity contributions to top up the fund, whether that’s by individual transfers (either one-time or recurring) or by organizing events (concerts, meals, or other) in order to turn over some or all of the money raised to the fund.
       You can find us every second Thursday of the month during the Kalimero meetings in Montreuil to chat or to pass us an envelope, or you can reach us by email (kalimeroparis@riseup.net) to arrange a bank transfer.
Some participants in Kalimero Paris

 

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

 

See You Later.

      To all my comrades, friends and followers, I'll be away for a wee break, of around two weeks, I believe in the philosophy that the older you get the more breaks you should take.  So my rants will fall silent for a while, keep changing the world until I get back, and I'll try to join you. 

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

Borders, The Enemy Of People.

         Nationality, borders, devices to stop the free movement of people, to hold you hostage within the fiefdom of one group of power mongers, and gives the powers that be the right to make arbitrary decisions who should be thrown over their imaginary lines to some other power mongers fiefdom. They allow the festering mental illness of patriotism to breed distrust and fear between between the people of this planet. These imaginary lines drawn across the Earth's surface, are never there for the benefit of the people, they are there to protect the wealth and power of the cabal that holds sway over that particular piece of the planet. Enforcing these imaginary lines leads to morally bankrupt acts of injustice, to the breaking up of families, to trauma, to personal suffering and in many cases death. Each enactment of the laws governing these imaginary lines is an attack on the personal freedom of the individual concerned, the denial of what should be a natural right, to live and work, on any part of your choosing, on this small planet.  

          Help Chennan Fei Stay in Scotland- Stop her Deportation.

        Chennan has done nothing wrong. She came to the UK in 2002 as the dependant of her parents who were legally here on Student Visas at the time. Chennan was educated in Glasgow high schools and went on to study at the University of Edinburgh, receiving an MA (Hons) in Accounting & Business Management.

https://www.change.org/p/secretary-of-state-for-the-home-department-help-chennan-fei-stay-in-scotland-stop-her-deportation

         Chennan Fei has lived in Scotland since she was 13 years old. She is now 28 and is in loving relationship with her Scottish boyfriend, Duncan. The couple had planned on moving in together in the next few months and Duncan had hoped to pop the question and ask Chennan to be his wife.
        But, Chennan was detained by the Home Office on 23rd March. She was taken to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre but was later moved south of the border to Yarl's Wood on 25th March. The Home Office plan to deport her to China.
        Unbeknown to Chennan her parents visas had expired within a few years of
her arriving in Scotland. There is no rule or provision in the Immigration Act that deals directly with the ‘children’ of over-stayers and the Home Office plan to send her into exile, away from the only home she has ever known and the friends
and partner who support her.
        Chennan has lived more than half her life in Scotland. She has volunteered at several agencies in Glasgow including the Scottish Refugee Council, putting the accountancy skills she learned at university to good use. The Home Office do not permit her to take up paid employment.
         Although her almost 15 years living in the UK may not be considered ‘legal’, this is through no fault of Chennan’s.

She is BLAMELESS.
Bring her Back to Scotland.
#SaveChennanFei

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,

if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag

held aloft by some foolish hand

inciting worker and peasant to kill

on some green and wooded hill,

peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag

that brings out fools to stand and brag

of brutal deeds painted grand,

deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still

killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation

this man made autocratic creation

that divides my brothers in a world so small,

binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,

bids us follow its drum, sing its song,

then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,

have no ear for power oration,

though its iron heel is on my breast,

my back feels its leather thong,

at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

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

The Most Effective Cops Don't Wear Uniforms.

         The most effective cop doesn’t wear a uniform, the most effective cop is in your head. Today the population, to a great extent, has been domesticated, where individuals have animals to do their bidding, so the state has citizens to do its bidding. We have been domesticated from birth by the education system, the pattern is planted, obey the teacher, obey the authority, abide by the rules and you will go through the system unmolested, abide by the law and you be fine. The mould has been set and is firm and strong, go to school, carry that obedience through to your work place, respect authority, don’t rock the boat, just conform. Of course when the few don’t, and those who haven’t succumbed to the conditioning, start to think for themselves, then that’s when the more brutal conditioning comes in, the appearance of the uniform, the baton, the tear gas, the controlled cages, etc.. This whole system of conditioned domestication relies on fear, there has to be that shadow hanging over you, there has to be that dark place waiting for you if you disobey, that’s the duty of the systems minders, the cops, the judicial system and its isolated cages. It is extremely difficult to act as a freethinking individual when you are conditioned from birth, when your value structure has a foundation of respect for authority. Respect should never be an obligation, it should be something that is earned by verifiable evidence. There is no other purpose for the police than to protect the wealth and power of those in authority, to keep the system running as it is, unequal, unjust, and exploitative. Yes there may be spin-off, they may catch a rapist, or a paedophile, but that is incidental to their real purpose. In all probability the catching of a rapists will be done with less violence that breaking up a peaceful protest about an injustice in society.
       If we want to be a society of freethinking individuals, we have to get rid of the cops in our heads, expel them, we have to see the real purpose of the uniformed cops, only then will we able to challenge the injustices of this greed driven system of corruption, only then will we be able to create that better world for all, only then can we be our own person.

 

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

 

These Dangerous Women.

       Because of the male dominated political parties and the male dominated babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, women have often been airbrushed out of history. However if you ever poke your nose into the history of working class struggle, you'll find that, not only were women there, but often they were major players at the forefront of that struggle. Women played a major role in the WWI peace movement and continue to be a force in the peace movement of today. In the struggle to improve working class conditions women have stood tall. We in Glasgow have a legion of women working class warriors that of which we can be very proud. Names such as Mary Barbour, Helen Crawfurd, Ethel MacDonald, Rita Milton, Jane Hamilton Patrick and too many to mention here. So any exhibition that highlights these women warriors and helps to redress the position, is worth supporting.  

Subject: Audacious Women festival:

Scottish WILPF Exhibition at Ocean Terminal

Dear All,
       If you haven't seen the Exhibition yet it will be at 'The Little Shop of Memories' Ocean Terminal 1st February to 3rd March.
      Please share the attached flyer with your friends and encourage people to go and see the exhibition.
       If you are not in Edinburgh and would like the Exhibition for a local venue please contact Scottish WILPF.

In peace
Anne Scott, Secretary Scottish WILPF

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A Very Volatile Future.

         Anybody who looks around them must be aware that the political landscape is changing rapidly and the "far right" is on the rise. This should not surprise us, as every time the capitalist system starts to sink into one of its cyclical "crises" some how, from some where, the far right is released from its sewers, and slithers across the land. We have been here before. What might be surprising is the rapid rate at which this "far right" epidemic of vicious authoritarianism has spread. I believe we are in for a very volatile future, how it pans out will depend on how well the ordinary people organise to defend the meagre handful of rights they have, how much they wish to live in freedom, or how much they will buckle under to the bare knuckles of raw capitalism. As always, the future has still to be written.

An Appeal from Its Going Down:

Donate Here

        On the evening of Friday, January 20th, a comrade of ours was shot in the stomach in the most public place on the University of Washington’s campus in Seattle – a place called “Red Square” for the color of its bricks rather than its politics.
        This Fellow Worker (what members of the IWW call ourselves) and Defender (for GDC members) is a longtime anti-fascist and dedicated activist, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the General Defense Committee of the IWW. He’s currently in critical condition at Harborview Hospital in Seattle. They have a Level One Trauma center, so it’s likely he is receiving the best quality care available, for which we are deeply grateful.
      How do we respond? We are building an expanded anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-fascist presence in Seattle, and this person was spearheading that effort. Will others are willing step up and replace his effort while he heals? Our response will help determine that.
          There is a limited amount of time for us to make clear to the world what is clear to us: we are under armed attack. The fascist right knows where to find us – protests such as anti-Donald Trump events, or actions against police brutality. In the Twin Cities, the trial has just begun of Allen Scarsella, one of the white supremacists who came to the Fourth Precinct in Minneapolis in November, 2015 and opened fire, shooting multiple people.
        We don’t have confirmation that the person who shot our comrade was a counter-protester angry at those protesting Milo’s hateful white nationalist misogyny. We do know that he turned himself into the police several hours later, claiming ‘self-defense.’ This, of course, is exactly what Scarsella did as well.
        Our friend will have enormous hospital bills and undoubtedly some legal costs as well. There will be a significant loss of income. Let’s raise him so much that he won’t have to worry about that angle of things. Please give. All money will be controlled directly by them and their partner; none will go to any other cause, excepting any fees associated with the fundraising service used.
        Please don’t just give; please tell your friends and families and organizations to give. That may sound daunting, but here’s why they should:
         This isn’t just about one guy. Your friends and families know that the situation has changed dramatically. They know that things are changing fast, and have heard the word fascism a lot since Trump was elected. They may even suspect that the breakneck pace of media revelations and executive decisions is intended to distract them and make them feel helpless.

Continue reading:

Donate Here

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Change We Must.

           Who are the terrorists, who are responsible, by far, for the vast majority of the killings on this planet, who forces poverty and deprivation on millions, who plunders the planet, for personal gain and not for the community? We all know, or should know, the answers to these questions, of course it is the state and capital. Yet millions still tolerate this festering cancerous marriage between state and capital, and foolishly millions turn to those very killer organisations in an attempt to improve their lives, it is a bit like being lost in a jungle and asking a crocodile for assistance. We have had centuries of watching the rich get richer, until we now see a small group own, by far, the greatest slice of the world’s unimaginable wealth, while the vast majority struggle from day to day just for survival, and some don’t even make that level. We have had centuries of asking and petitioning for the wealth to be a little bit more evenly spread, the result is the opposite of what we ask, the rich still get richer. They say that one of the signs of insanity is to keep doing the same thing, but expecting a different result. Perhaps we should now be looking at ourselves and realising that we have to try something different, to get that better result that we all desire. You have voted for centuries, and the wealth that you and I create, still flows, at an ever increasing rate, upwards, to that small band of bloated parasites. You know there is a better way, you know that the world has an abundance of resources that could see to the needs of all our people, you know we have the ability to create that better world, but as long as we play the game to the rules of the gangsters and mobsters that at the moment control all that wealth, we are doomed to see the wealth continue flowing up to their overloaded coffers, and we will continue to see our people struggle and suffer. 

        There are many ways we can change the system, end this injustice, and end the plundering and destruction of the planet, but change we must. To continue as we are is to see the suffering increase and by the continuing plundering of the planet, the eventual demise of the ecosystem that we all rely on for survival. We must remember, the Earth has no escape capsule.

This poster has appeared recently in Greece:

Translation from Contra Info:

 The poster reads:

“I am a revolutionary, and I have nothing to apologize for.

         Terrorists, criminals, robbers are those who compose the economic and political life; the institutions and governments that, through the memoranda, are waging the most violent, the most heinous attack on the social base in the name of a “way out of the crisis.” Terrorist, criminal, robber is the State and Capital; those whom I fight committed with all my soul to armed struggle, to Revolutionary Struggle; those whom my organization has targeted all these years of our activity.
       (…) when the economic and political establishment attacks the social majority in the most merciless way, armed struggle for social revolution is a duty and obligation; because that’s where hope lies and nowhere else. The only hope for a definitive way out of the systemic crisis we are living in this historical period, for a definitive way out of every crisis. It is the only hope towards overturning capitalism, the system that gives birth to crises; the only hope towards overturning the State and Capital.
        It is the only hope for an armed counterattack of the social base against a system that crushes them.
        It is the only hope towards overthrowing the State and Capital; for Social Revolution.
         For a society of economic equality and political freedom for all.”
Pola Roupa

       “I am an anarchist, member of the armed revolutionary organization Revolutionary Struggle. The only terrorists are the State and the Capital.”
Konstantina Athanasopoulou

Demonstration in solidarity with Revolutionary Struggle members

Saturday January 21st 2017 at 12:00 in Monastiraki (downtown Athens)

SOLIDARITY WITH THE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE MEMBERS

NO EXEMPTION STATUS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS

STRUGGLE AGAINST THE STATE AND CAPITAL BY ANY MEANS

–Solidarity Assembly (Athens)

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State Kidnapping Of A Child.

       A further statement from Pola Roupa, on the despicable act of the Greek state kidnapping of her child.

From Act For Freedom Now:

       I Panagiota (Pola) Roupa declare that I was and will be until I die an unrepentant enemy of the system. They have now put the child in the middle of this war and they punish him in order to get revenge against me. They have kidnapped my child and i don t know where he is since our arrest in the early morning.
        We are at war, it is true. But them fighting against my child, by not allowing me or other close relatives to see him and by threatening to send him to an institution, is the most despicable act in this war. Those who are in the state apparatus are worms because they are fighting against a 6 year old child.
       And I want to state that I have now begun a hunger and thirst strike to demand that the child is given to my mother and my sister. As for me I will remain the enemy until I die. And I will never yield. Long live the revolution!

Pola Roupa

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

Something Rotten And Malignant At The Heart Of Our Society.

 

       A happy new year to all my family, friends and comrades, so forward into 2017, filled with hope and determination, that we can change the world. This time of year all across the world people gather, filled with goodwill towards each other, a feeling of camaraderie sweeps across the globe, and then it dissipates and fragments. This year let's hold on to that feeling and join hands in the realisation that we are one people, and we can shape this world to our liking and our needs.

       Of course we should not forget that there are those who can't join in any gathering of their choice, for a multitude of reasons, among them, abject poverty, illness, and living in a war decimated area and then those who find themselves locked in the penal cages of the state. Prisons are symbols telling us that freedom has not yet been born, they are living monuments to power, authority and repression. Prisons are edifices reminding those lovers of freedom that their work is far from over. 

       No matter the nation state, it will have its prisons, a tool in its defence of its monopoly on power. Here in the UK that so called "bastion of freedom", the powers that be, boast of crime figures falling, but fail to see the contradiction in the rising numbers of its citizens it locks up in its cages of repression. In that other "land of the free" the good ol' US of A, they lock up more of their own citizens than any other despot, dictator or monarchy on the planet.

      No matter the "prison reforms", prisons are an intolerable abomination of human dignity, they are factories for the destruction of the individual, the state's tool for control. In present day capitalism, prisons are more and more becoming production units for making money for large corporations. In other words prisons are large factories housing slaves. There are no workers rights, no minimum wage, no paid holidays, no days off, no sickness benefits and no health and safety cover, but there are punishments for not working hard enough.

      Naturally, human beings, being what they are, lovers of freedom and dignity,  if you treat them in this manner you build up pressure, and sooner or later the pressure blows. In America on the 29th of September, the largest strike in American prison history began, and ran for months. Some of the individuals involved in that stand for dignity are still being brutally punished by the state's henchmen, know as screws.

     Here in the UK over the last few months, we have seen a series of prison riots,  all brutally suppressed by the heavy hand of the state. Recently in Brussels, in civilised Europe prison riots broke out at several prisons, Tournai, Arlon, Huy, Landtin, and Andenne.  the prisoners burned their cells, flooded the units, trashed the hallways, etc. Saturday May 7, a devastating mutiny rocked the Merkplas prison in Anvers. Whole wings were destroyed and burnt by the insurgent prisoners. Walls were levelled, fences torn down, whole units ransacked.

        Prisoners strikes, and prison riots are symptoms of something rotten and malignant at the heart of our society. People will make a stand about animals being held in cages, but seem to tolerate human beings being held in cages, Why? Of course our babbling brook of bullshit, the main stream media, pedals the lie that our prison are full of nasty, evil, brutal psychopaths. When the truth is far removed from that pungent vomit that the media spews out. Facts show that a very high proportion of those in prison are suffering from some form of substance addiction, a high proportion suffer from mental health problems, a high proportion are illiterate, all of these problems make it difficult to integrate into society. These are people that need our help and support, not to be locked up in cages at the whim of a biased judicial system, that is there to protect the rich and wealthy.

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

The Malignant Power Of Invisible Holy Men.

        Too often religion in Western society gets an easy ride, well at least the Christian variety. In mainstream politics religion is almost taboo territory, a place you don’t go. So many of the mainstream politicians hold deeply religious views, and this is passed over as if it had no bearing on their decisions. However, a devout Catholic will have very strong views on things like abortion, family planning, education etc. but this will not be taken as a conflict of interests when they find themselves sitting on committees shaping legislation on these matters for others of no religion. Apart from this, the institution of religion is dressed in a gown of peace, love and charity, when in fact it is a very rich and powerful authoritarian pillar of the capitalist society. The church has blessed wars, spread the snake oil of submissiveness on poverty, and supported inequality, as it holds the hands of monarchs, prime ministers and presidents, suffers amnesia regarding is centuries old litany of physical and sexual abuse, maintains that lying position of not getting involved in politics, but manoeuvres its devout followers into positions of power. Our present Prime minister is a devout Christian and seeks the advice of her invisible friend in the sky. Religion is at the heart of the repressive system under which we live. There can be no freedom as long as religion and state are intertwined with their cheating hands on the levers off power. Religion must be seen for what it is, a power hungry, homophobic repressive authoritarian regime, the enemy of free choice, with a history of savage brutality, a control system that seeks world wide domination, based on the fairy tales and myths of some long gone ancient tribes.

         Of course there are those who don't see religion as an innocent bystander to the repression of the individuals freedom.

This from Contra Info:

Thessaloniki, Greece:
Church attacked in solidarity with Mónica and Francisco.

    In the early hours of December 8th 2016, we decided to attack the Church of Prophet Elijah at Olympiados Street in Thessaloniki, setting fire to its entrance and interiors. This act was in solidarity with anarchist prisoners Mónica Caballero and Francisco Solar, accused of an explosive attack at El Pilar cathedral in Zaragoza on October 2nd 2013. In fact, during that period the Catholic Church in Spain had been struck by a series of attacks because of its willingness to limit access to abortions.
         Every religion is our enemy. It sustains the status quo, pacifying the society with norms that later become laws. It bases its power on believers’ hopes of a future afterlife, stifling any desire for insurgency today, in the here and now. It justifies war based on cultural differences that religion itself has created.
        This is also the role of the church in Greece’s contemporary reality, and beyond. Its all-powerful political role is exercised by its fascist, patriotic, xenophobic rhetoric, always in tandem and direct relation with politicians, cops, judges and journalists.
         At the same time it is well-known that the church is constantly trying to expand its economic hegemony and immeasurable wealth, which rests on the possession of huge tracts of land, buildings, etc. With a view to obtaining profits by means of speculation, it sets up a charitable façade which has nothing to do with reality.
         Finally, it has a huge social and cultural influence, being a pillar of the patriarchal system. It promotes (both externally and internally) heteronormativity, homophobia, and rape culture in its entirety. Its position on the place of women, sexuality or abortion is indicative of its stance on many such issues.

Solidarity with anarchists held captive in prisons.

 

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

 

Avalanche.

 

    Issue 9 of the anarchist magazine Avalanche is now available to download as a free PDF.

        Anarchists always appropriated means to spread anti-authoritarian ideas and struggles to feed the dialogue and subversive action. It is in this sense that this publication is also intended as a tool, more precisely that of providing a space to nourish the international debate between anarchists. That is why these particular pages create space for struggles that spring from anarchist activities; autonomous, direct and self-organized struggles; struggles that go towards the destruction of power in all its forms; struggles happening today, yesterday or that are announcing itself.

  Get it HERE:

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

State Induced Suicides And Self-harm,

         Anyone with a grain of humanity knows that prisons are a barbaric relic from a brutal past and have no place in a civilised society. In our not so distant past children at school could receive physical punishment for any misdemeanour, it was eventually recognised that harsh punishment doesn’t have the desired effect and was in fact damaging to the child. Prisons are much the same, as a punishment it doesn’t work, as a reforming process is doesn’t work, most of those individuals who enter the prison system do so again and again. However, the state will hold on to the prison system as a tool of repression, something to hold up as a warning to its citizens that it still has the power to remove you from society should you cease to be subservient.
       One measure of the barbarity of the prison system can be seen in the number of suicides. Over the last five years, 2011/2016, suicides have steadily risen, from 58 to 107, (England & Wales). Any system that sees an almost 100% increase in suicides has to be seen as inhumane and fatally flawed. Another barometer of the barbarity of the whole prison system is the amount of self harm among prisoners, this has seen a 50% rise in the last four years. Our prisons are dark places of injustice and despair, where the human individual is crushed.
        This quote from a BBC article highlights the anguish and desperation that fills the lives of those trapped within our prison system, none of which is of any benefit to the individual or the quality of our society.

       Danny Weatherson was 19 years old when he was given a 13-month IPP for robbery. More than nine years later, he is still in prison. In February, a parole board said his re-offending risk had reduced sufficiently to be moved to an open prison.
      But he cut his own throat last month and the move has been postponed. He is currently recovering in the prison's hospital wing.
       His solicitor, Shirley Noble, says self-harming has become his way of coping with not having a release date. But she is worried it could also hurt his chances of ever being let out.

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Return of the 20/30's????

 

         It is difficult, viewing today’s political scene, not to draw parallels between the 20/30’s and today. It was the populist vote that brought Mussolini to power in 1922, and a decade later, it was the populist vote that brought Hitler to power in 1933. Today the populist vote is encouraging the rise of far right factions across Europe and America. Fascists now openly displaying their symbols of hate, and openly hold meetings where they spread their rhetoric of division and hate. Of course the fascist are not going unchallenged, nor should they, as the present political era seems to give them a new confidence to spew their vomit, so it should give those who desire freedom and justice for all, an ever greater determination to meet this head on. Where and when the fascist come out of their sewers, we have to be there to meet them, you can never give vermin a free run, or they will destroy everything you hold dear.
        Of course there are forces at work funding and giving the oxygen of publicity and propaganda to these far right factions, and they have an agenda. When times are hard and people start to come together in struggle to improve their conditions, as in the 20/30’s, they are a threat to the established power cabal. The answer to that threat is divide and conquer, through fear and false assumptions, creating conditions for greater control over the population. Fascism is never an accident of nature, it is a man made force, it allows for greater control by the powers that be, over the ordinary people and the shape of the society we live in.

This from New Scientist

        This may help to explain a lot of what is happening in the world right now. The Global Risks Report 2016 details a worldwide rise in catastrophic events, ranging from involuntary migration to natural disasters. When such crises occur, people look for someone to blame, and often immigration and minorities become an easy scapegoat for a problem that is far less visible in origin – as is the case with financial crises.
      Immigration itself has been shown to have an effect on right-wing views – but not in the direction you might expect. The two show a negative correlation: in the places where immigration is the highest, support for right-wing parties is lowest. For example, it has been shown that it is the perception of immigration levels in a local area, rather than the actual change in numbers, that is linked to votes for UKIP.

This from Insurrection News:

 People who hate differences displaying the number of brain cells they have.

         On December 10th, 2016 the ‘German Turkish Federation’ (ATF) organized a cultural day with the slogan ‘Feast of the Flags’ in the Neumünster town hall. The ‘ATF’ is the umbrella organization of the ‘Gray Wolves’ and represents the fascist nationalist MHP party in Germany. It is a scandal that the city of Neumünster allows its premises to be used by fascist organizations who openly display their fascist-nationalist ideology. The flags with the three crescents were openly on display, the ‘Gray Wolves’ hand signal was openly used and fascist literature was sold.
         The ‘Turkish Federation’ is responsible not only for propaganda work in the FRG to spread its fascist agitation but is also closely linked to the MHP party in Turkey. The fascists played a decisive role in the massacres in Cizre, Sur and many other regions while the fascist forces within the Turkish army are currently participating in the invasion of Bakur and Rojava. The MHP is working with the AKP on the reintroduction of the death penalty in Turkey. Their objective is the murder of Serok APO (Abdullah Öcalan) by the Turkish state.
      In protest against the fascist event we simultaneously attacked the ATF building on Joachim street with graffiti and sabotaged several cars of the participants.
We will attack you wherever you are.
Revenge Team Sehid Lecwan Munzur of the Apoist Youth Initiative.
(via Linksunten Indymedia, translated by Insurrection News)

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

A Comrade Remembered.

      December 11th. marks the third anniversary of the police killing of 26 year old anarchist Sebastián Oversluij Seguel in Santiago by Chilean police, he died from 6 bullet wounds, fired from one police gun. His comrades have not forgotten him.

From Insurrection News:

       Sebastián Oversluij, we demand your memory in every direct action.* This December 11 is already 3 years since your death in combat, with fire we remember every fallen compañerx.

Freedom for the PDI case compañerxs, Tamara Sol and all other compas who have been kidnapped and imprisoned by the Police State.

Fire to the prisons! We do not forget, we do not forgive! The struggle continues, stronger than ever!

*Barricades, banners, pamphlets and attacks with Molotovs against the police in memory of Sebastián ‘Angry’ Oversluij and for the political prisoners outside UMCE (Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences). There were also clashes outside Campus Juan Gómez Millas (University of Chile). 07.12.2016

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

The Anarchists Have Been Right All Along.

        Anarchist have been consistent in their belief that, if you seek freedom and justice for all, you can't modify the state and/or capitalism, you have to destroy them both. However, this hasn't exactly went down wholeheartedly among the general population. One reason could be that it is difficult to go out and take on the state when your fridge is full, you're booked for a nice holiday abroad. and the "far right" hasn't been rampant on the streets. Now the situation has shifted, lots of people have empty fridges, can't afford any holidays, and the far right is openly on the march, trying to kick the shit out of all those who dare to be different. It is obvious that the so called "left parties" have failed miserably in bringing about a fair and just society, they haven't even been able to defend the few perks that have been won through centuries of struggle, they have presided over the social fabric of society being wiped away before our very eyes, while they displayed their complete impotence.

      We have to shout our ideas louder than ever, people are looking for answers, and if our ideas are not on the table, they wont be picked up. Encouragingly though, our ideas are being picked up, more and more people now realise that the "left parties" as an opposition, have been the problem, and allowed the "far right" to flourish, allowed neo-liberalism to run rampant, and allowed our standard of living to be whittled away.  Politics today, must be moved away from the party political system, moved away from the marble halls, party leaders, presidents, prime ministers, must be ignored, politics must move onto the streets and into the communities. 

      Our struggles can no longer be confined to the local or national level, our enemy is a global enemy, and so we must see a world without borders. Wherever the people enter into open rebellion against the state and/or its bed partner, capitalism, we must display bold and virulent open solidarity with them. Their struggle is our struggle. I can hear the whisper that is becoming a roar, "The anarchist have been right all along." 

 And from It's Going Down:

     Electoral politics feeds off of grassroots social movements and struggles, not into them.

       As Scott Jay wrote:

[E]lectoral activism feeds into electoral activism. It relies on itself to further itself. It attracts people who are attracted to electoral politics and generally does not attract people engaging in class struggle. It does not need, nor does it feed class struggle, except to the extent that it might be able to take advantage of the sacrifices of militants in order to declare itself a proper representative of a social movement it did not create.

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