In Democracy, Prisons Are An Anathema.

        Prisons are cages where the state locks away those who resist its power, where it tries to intimidate and silence those who would work at breaking its strangle hold over our freedom. Prisons are there to intimidate, repress and silence any real change to the power structure of this unjust and exploitative system. As long as one prison remains, we do not have a free society. For centuries, so often we have found the voice of freedom locked away in some dark and dismal hole for fear that it might light the touch paper of anger that simmers under the surface of so many. For fear that they could be the spark that releases that fire of burning desire for freedom we all carry in our hearts. While prisons stand freedom struggles.

Click image to read article.

This from Contra Info:

INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR A GLOBAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY ACTIONS BY RELATIVES AND FRIENDS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
      We who experience the condition of our children, our spouses, our brothers and sisters, our friends being captive.
    We who have heard exterminating sentences to decades of imprisonment handed down by terror-courts of the State of exploiters.
     We who have stood firmly and with dignity by the side of our relatives and friends – captive freedom fighters.
      It’s time that we raised our own voice. It’s time that we proclaimed our own truth.
     We propose and call for a Global Solidarity Action Day joined by relatives and friends of political prisoners.
     From Greece, Italy, Spain to Chile and Mexico and throughout the Earth.
     Let us all together shout out loud:
POLITICAL PRISONERS – IMPRISONED FREEDOM FIGHTERS
ARE NOT ALONE.
     We stand by them and will continue to do so. In the face of the barbarity of terror laws of fascist and democratic governments of the empire of wealth, we will continue to resist.
       We propose December 31st as a day of global action undertaken by relatives of political prisoners.
      Through initiatives for manifestations & interventions at prisons, courts, ministries and every centre of Power.
        For human dignity and FREEDOM.
Until the demolition of the last prison left standing
We continue to resist.
Relatives & Friends of prisoners and prosecuted fighters | Greece
sygeneis-filoi[at]espiv.net
call-out in Greek

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

We Are Complicit.

At the age of 81, this poster says what I feel in my heart.

        Today, the members of the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption will decide if the British imperialist hierarchy will unleash their modern destructive air-power on Syria. The extreme right-wing faction in the Labour Party have demanded a free vote on this matter, and with their usual overpowering arrogance, they say the will vote according to their conscience. They utterly fail to grasp the idea of democracy, they simply can't accept that they are there to represent their constituencies and not their own personal view.
        What will happen if the pompous arrogant mouthpieces of the British imperialist establishment succeed in getting their way, and it certainly looks as if they will? That babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, will swamp us with maps, showing lots of lines and strange names, photographs of UK war-planes, there will of course by videos of our “clever smart missiles” turning a rather hazy something into a cloud of dust. What they will not show of course, is the body parts lying around after the dust settles. They will also pump out that old UK military myth, we only kill “bad guys”, but somehow in every war zone we are involved in, the local inhabitants keep burying the damaged bodies of their men women and children. 

        At present some of the most powerful military powers on earth are bombing Syria on a vast and daily basis, Syria is a waste land, its people are fleeing in their millions, Britain's contribution to that mayhem, will be more death and destruction, more terrified traumatised families fleeing a Western created Dante's inferno. The UK imperial establishment's only reason for entering this destruction of a country, is its desire not to miss out on the spoils of war, when the imperialists start to carve up that unfortunate land. The pack of imperialist wolves are tearing Syria apart to fulfil their original aims, to bring down the Assad regime and open Syria's resources to the corporate world. The Syrian people are not on that agenda, they can go to hell in a hand cart as far as the big boys in the imperialist team are concerned. 

          Like Afghanistan, like Iraq, like Libya, and further back, Malaya and Suez, and many others, our involvement in Syria has nothing to do with democracy, nothing to do with the local people, it is all about imperialist powers carving up the world to their own advantage.
         Under the present system, Britain's blood stained path will continue, we will continue to send our young people to foreign lands, waving the false flag of democracy, they will destroy and kill, to further the power of UK interests, to plunder other people's resources. Only the will of the people can stop this greed driven human disaster. As it continues we are complicit, we swallow their lies, we turn a blind eye, we settle into our own comfort zone, we ignore the suffering of others. This brutal crime may be planned and instigated by the powers that be, but they need us to carry it out, we are the tools they use to savage other people, people just like us. 

         It will take something more than lobbying your MP, to end this cancer that is eating the human race. It will take a revolution of consciousness of the ordinary people, and the will to destroy the present system. 

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

 

Corporate Fascism Or True Democracy?

       The financial Mafia and multi-national corporations, work relentlessly to ever increase their power over the various states, attempting to standardise legislation so that it works in their favour, allowing them to run roughshod over anything that may hinder their ever more brutal plunder for profit. No country will be able to pass legislation that may hinder the corporate world's projected profits. If they do so, they can face costly legal battles in special courts that favour the corporate world. Health and safety measures could be challenged, environmental protection can be deemed to jeopardise their future profits, and the people can go to hell in a hand cart.

      For far too long the financial Mafia and the corporate fascists have fattened their bank accounts by sucking the blood from the people, spreading misery and deprivation in their wake. They have hi-jacked the world's resources and used its people as mere commodities.The time has surely come when we put a stop to this system that survives by the plundering of the many by the few. This is a man made system of corporate greed, it can be destroyed and replaced by a system of justice, sustainability and co-operation, a system that sees to the needs of all our people. However, this can only be done by the people, when the people have that desire for justice for all. Have we reached that time?  

A sample of what is in store for us, from SumOfUs:

Huge news: The final TPP text has just been released to the public. And just as we thought, it's full of give-aways for big business.
     To go into effect, the deal must be ratified by legislatures in countries that include Canada, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. If we can convince even one of those countries not to ratify, the deal could be dead -- but we're really running out of time. 

      SumOfUs is one of the only organizations in the world with enough global reach to launch and support grassroots campaigns everywhere where widespread opposition to the TPP exists. We need your help to make opposition to this deal as strong as we possibly can. Will you chip in £1 to help stop the TPP?
Yes, I'll donate £1 to help stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

     It's absolutely astonishing that a deal this huge would be negotiated entirely in secret. 792 million people live in countries that are party to this deal, yet this is the first any of us have officially been able to see the full text. And in keeping with the secrecy of the deal, the text was released at midnight in New Zealand when they thought most of the world wouldn't notice. 

     We don't think you should need a law degree to make sense of the deal that will affect every single one of us. So we need to make sure the public knows that this deal will drive up drug costs, weaken workers' rights, and put corporations on the same level as sovereign nations, able to sue in special TPP courts to overturn protections for consumers and the environment.
Will you donate £1 to help stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
       If you chip in today, here’s just some of what we’ll be able to do together:
Create easy-to-understand, sharable explanations of what's wrong with the TPP to share on social media. Work across party lines to get conservatives and progressives who oppose the deal working together. For instance, in the U.S., top candidates in both parties have come out against the TPP, putting enormous pressure on Congress to say no.
      Target MPs who are up for re-election in Australia and New Zealand and Canada's new government.
       The TPP has never been so close to becoming a reality, but we can still stop it if we all pitch in. Will you donate £1 today?
Yes, I'll chip in £1 to help stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Thanks for all that you do,

Jon and the rest of the SumOfUs team

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


    

Capitalism = Crisis.

         Capitalism in crisis, capitalism is crisis, to get rid of the crisis in capitalism, we have to get rid of capitalism. Any attempt to tinker with, modify, transform capitalism, will still leave you with capitalism, which is an exploitative system, based on profit for the few and struggle for the many. Dress it up in tinsel, paint it pink, spray it with deodorant, it is still a stinking system whereby the many work for the enrichment of the few. We can never be free if we, the many, depend on working all our lives for the enrichment of the few. Why do we continually struggle through life creating unimaginable wealth for the few? Why do we perpetuate a system of exploitation for the next generation, our children and grandchildren, to inherit? 

           There is a world beyond "market forces", by no stretch of the imagination can the present system be called democracy. It is plutocracy, corporatism, mass exploitation, plundering of public assets, raping of the world's resources, take your pick, but it is not democracy, nor can capitalism ever by democracy.

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

Britain's Costliest Benefit Family.

        That babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media is wetting itself with excitement, they are all of a dither, why, because the queen is Britain's longest reigning monarch. Switch on the radio, and there it is spewing out at you, how wonderful it is to have sat on a throne, at public expense, for 63 years, the TV is awash with the vomit of pomp and ceremony, with commentators slobbering at the mouth in adulation, at the fact that one woman has managed to survive on public benefit for 63 years. All I can say to the British public is, "shame on you", you should have remedied this anomaly years ago.

 

 On benefit, as far as I know, none have signed on, none have been sanctioned.

       The Royal family are showered with privilege and wealth, beyond the average persons wildest imagination, its affairs are shrouded in secrecy, and they cost you and I the tax payers, millions ever year. This for a family that is really a collection of non-entities, none, as far as I am aware have ever excelled at anything in the arts, music, or the sciences. Though some are pretty good at horse riding, shootin' and fishin'.

This from Common Space:

There exists an ongoing controversey over the costs and benefits of the royal family to the British economy.

Campaign group Republic estimates the average cost of the monarchy to be £300m, around nine times the figure published by the royal household and 100 times the cost of the Irish head of state.

For their part, the royal household (a corporate term for the large royal staff since the family themselves seldom give interviews or communicate with the press) claims that the family’s upkeep is £35.7m a year, or 56p per tax payer, and it’s this figure that is frequently reported by the media.

        Politically, they certainly can't stand up and say they believe in democracy, so where do their political sympathies lie? Well we all know about some of their members being on good terms with Hitler. The affairs of some members of "The Royal Household" and some of their privileged cronies, during that period just before the 2nd world war, is swept under the carpet. An apt phrase to remember, should you ever be allowed inside their palatial homes, would be that John Cleese one, "Don't mention the war".
From Common Space:

The recent appearance of a photograph of the royal family in 1933, including a young Elizabeth II making fascist salutes, caused enormous controversy. But they point to a much darker truth about the monarchy’s past and about aristocratic European society in the pre-war years.

King Edward VIII, who features in the photograph teaching the salute to his neices, was forced to abdicate in part because of the political scandal he had created through his friendship with German dictator Adolf Hitler.

Hitler’s favourite court intellectual, Albert Speer, later said in his book, ‘Inside the Third Reich’, that Hitler viewed Edward VIII as instrumental in attempts to maintain peace with Britain before World War II.

Speer quoted Hitler as saying: “I am certain through him permanent friendly relations could have been achieved. If he had stayed, everything would have been different. His abdication was a severe loss for us.”

Read the full article HERE: 

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

The Left And Europe.

 

        Since the "Greek Affair" it is more obvious now than ever before that the EU is not a democratic institution. It never was, it has always been an organisation to allow capital to flow freely across the continent and therefore exert greater power over that area. As time goes on that power will be exerted with greater force and authority in an attempt to continually maximise the profit from their capital and to protect that capital when it runs into problems. The people don't enter the equation. The people can organise a Europe for the people, but it has to be created outside the rules and regulations of capital. The two are totally incompatible.

This from Roar Mag:

Syriza’s strategy to end austerity within the Eurozone has failed. What does this mean for the future of the Greek left and the anti-austerity movement in Europe?

In the past weeks, the masks have really fallen: the structures and legitimacy of the Eurozone are now thoroughly broken. Has the time come for the left to abandon the single currency, or even the EU? And what role are grassroots movements to play in the reconstruction of a radical transnational project against austerity and for a democratic and socially just Europe?

These are some of the questions discussed in this episode of #TalkReal, recorded in Athens during the GCAS World Conference, Democracy Rising. Featuring: Costas Douzinas, acclaimed Greek intellectual close to Syriza; Margarita Tsomou, Greek performer and commentator based in Berlin; Jerome Roos, writer and founder of ROAR Magazine; and Srecko Horvat, Croatian philosopher and member of the board of European Alternatives. Host: Lorenzo Marsili, director of European Alternatives.

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

You Have Felt The Pain, Now For The Agony!!

     For some time now the Troika, (ECB, European Central Bank, IMF, International Mankind Fuckers, EC, European Commission) have been holding a gun to the head of the people of Greece, now they pull the trigger. Syriza has accepted a deal worse than the one that 62% of the people of Greece had just recently rejected, so much for European democracy. Syriza, like all political parties, when push comes to shove, they play by the rules of the Financial Mafia. 

      The God-fathers of the financial Mafia have taken a "left leaning" government and rubbed their noses in the shit, and it is the people of Greece that will feel the pain. After more than five years of collapsing living conditions, five years of failing health service, five years of disintegrating education system, they are now being forced to endure higher taxes, lower pensions and higher unemployment for the foreseeable future, and their national assets sold off to fund the European banksters. Will the Syriza group be able to get the coup accepted by the Greek parliament? My opinion is they will, but will the people of Greece accept that ruling from the puppets in the Greek parliament, I hope not.

    An interesting comment in The New Statesman, from Varoufakis tells us how democracy works in Europe:

    When Donald Tusk, the European Council President, tried to issue the communiqué without him, Varoufakis consulted Eurogroup clerks – could Tusk exclude a member state? The meeting was briefly halted. After a handful of calls, a lawyer turned to him and said, “Well, the Eurogroup does not exist in law, there is no treaty which has convened this group.”
     “So,” Varoufakis said, “What we have is a non-existent group that has the greatest power to determine the lives of Europeans. It’s not answerable to anyone, given it doesn’t exist in law; no minutes are kept; and it’s confidential. No citizen ever knows what is said within . . . These are decisions of almost life and death, and no member has to answer to anybody.”
Events this weekend seem to support Varoufakis’ account. On Saturday evening, a memo leaked that showed Germany was suggesting Greece should take a “timeout” from the Eurozone. By the end of the day, Schäuble’s recommendation was the conclusion of the Eurogroup’s statement. It’s unclear how that happened; the body operates in secret. While Greeks hung on reports of their fate this weekend, no minutes were released from any meetings.

Read the full article HERE:

And from The Barbarian Times: 

        Syriza has shown their hand- as if anyone needed confirmation. At The Barbarian Review we have taken a consistent line fully against Syriza, in contrast to many of the unsupportable illusions that have been promoted in certain radical sectors, and the proof of this can be read by anyone. Well before there was Syriza, there were any number of past Marxist dictatorial and social-democratic failures. History clearly showed what was going to take place. Now Syriza is just another austerity government but with more ridiculous rhetoric, and more generous helpings of incompetence. The shuttered stores, abrupt policy changes, populist-nationalist rhetoric, and official lies surely recall to mind life in the East Bloc. The only thing missing is more serious repression, which presumably is not far off.

 

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

Stop TTIP.

       Let's not take our eyes of the dodgy double dealing devious TTIP stitch-up, that is taking place secretly, deep in the dark corridors of power. They are working hard at getting their corporate control put into binding legislation.

This from 38 Degrees:

     Caught red-handed: shady corporate lobbyists are spreading lies about TTIP. They’ve been emailing our MEPs, making false claims about widespread support for the dodgy trade deal. [1] Before MEPs start taking it seriously, let’s drown the lobbyists out.
       It’s urgent - next week, all MEPs will take part in a series of votes about TTIP. They could have the chance to vote to scrap some of the most dangerous parts of the deal, like the bit that lets big businesses sue our government if they don’t like our laws. [2] Corporate lobbyists have been telling MEPs that their colleagues support this part of the deal - but in fact, many of them don’t.
        Together, we need to make sure that in the final few days before the vote, MEPs inboxes are full of emails slamming TTIP. If thousands of us email our MEPs now, the lying lobbyist emails will soon be at the bottom of their email inbox, forgotten about.
So can you get in touch with your MEPs now to ask them to vote against TTIP next week?

Email your MEPs

       It’s clear that corporate lobbyists are worried. They’ve run out of ‘credible’ arguments and now they’re just making things up to try and get MEPs to support TTIP.
        But we’re the voters, and MEPs represent us. So we can focus on creating as much noise as possible about why TTIP is bad. When MEPs walk into the vote next week, they will know we’re backing them to vote against the worst parts of the deal.
        The other side may have money, but we’ve got people-power. Will you email your MEP now, to ask them to vote against TTIP next week?

Email your MEPs

Thanks for being involved,

Bex, Amy, Blanche and the 38 Degrees team

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

The Brink Of something Special!!

      It is not often, if at all, that I can thank the Tories for something. What I think the new Bullingdon Boys cabal In the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption have done, is unite the ordinary people across this country. Their arrogance as the feel the glow of their new found power will encourage them to go into full throttle attack. The start will be their £12 billion of cuts that are aimed at the the poorest and most vulnerable in our society, but will impact on all our communities. What £12 billion amounts to is roughly taking £545 from every household in the country. Some people are going to get really clobbered.

      Approximately 70,000 will be affected by the benefit cap, more than 21,000 will suffer when they scrap the housing benefit for under 21 year olds, then there will be roughly 150,000 18 to 21 year olds hit when the scrap the job-seekers allowance and replace it with a six month payment. Between now and 2020, a million more families will have to pay the bedroom tax, the average payment over the five years under this bunch of millionaire parasites will be approximately £3,800. Iain Duncan Smith has already cut the financial help ­available to Bedroom Tax victims by 24%. Discretionary Housing Payments to local authorities which provide a lifeline to hardship cases were slashed from £165million to £125million last month. There is also talk of increasing the bedroom tax to an average of £25. In those dark corridors of power, there has even been discussions of abolishing statutory maternity pay. Then there is their intention to bring more anti-union legislation.

       Of course it is not all screwing the people, there are those higher up the financial ladder that are in the buddies club of the Bullingdon Boys, who will be handed some sweeties. The threshold at which the higher 40% tax rate is paid, will be raised, the top rate of 45% tax will be scrapped, and the level at which inheritance tax is paid will be raised. A little thank-you to those managers of the system.
     Recently in Downing Street, Mr Cameron's FREE home, paid for by you and I, he stated that “We are on the brink of something special.” Well I think we are, I think the people of this country will not sit about and be shafted by a bunch Oxbridge parasites who hold power by only receiving 36.8% of the voters support, 63.2% didn't want them. It is now time to do something about that total lack of democracy.

      Marching from A to B waving banners and chanting, though worth doing to raise the profile of the dissent, but it will not be enough on its own. We have to use our imagination and come up with a variety of tactics, in our communities and workplaces, in town and city centres. In words of the Tory parasites, “ we are all in this together”. We have suffered under the yoke of this system for generations, and it is not getting any easier. As a class we can sort this out, we have the power, the ability and the imagination. Let's come together and fight like our lives depend on it, because they do!!

      There are a series of events and protests coming up, broadcast them, take part in them, organise your own event, but do your damnedest to be part of it.

Here are some of the events coming up:

Glasgow, Peterborough, Manchester, Sheffield, Cardiff, Winchester, Newcastle, Leeds and many more to come – please feel free to leave details of upcoming events, protests or actions in the comments.

Class War and the National Coalition Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) have both called a protest in Central London on the day of the state opening of Parliament, May 27th – keep it free.

UK Uncut have called a day of action on Saturday May 30th, which coincides with a protest against scrapping the Human Right’s Act.

A massive demonstration wil be taking place in the City of London on the 20th June.

Please help spread the word about all events and let’s make them huge.

Remember, "We are on the brink of something special."

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

 

UK Democracy, Power To The Few, Misery To The Many.

       Our totally unrepresentative government, it rules over us with only 36.8% of the vote, has some nasty pieces of legislation it aims to push down our throats, like it or not. On Privacy, Teresa May wants more powers for the government to snoop on us. The snoopers charter is being dusted up for re-issue. The right to strike is high on their agenda, to appease their financial masters and corporate buddies, they want that right to be considerably curtailed. However, the legislation they are introducing would make their own election illegal, as they didn't have sufficient mandate to carry out their legislation!! The right to independent thought and speech. Fuehrer Cameron has stated, “For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society,---” so they plan to target people who believe in certain values and they will make it impossible for “extremists” to succeed. I wonder whose definition of “extremist” they will use? There will be a renewed attack on the young and poor, as it plans a £12 billion cut in welfare, one of the proposals is to scrap job seekers allowance for 18-21 year olds, replacing it with a six month allowance. There is also a proposal to scrap the right of those under 21 to claim housing benefit. To show their human credentials, Teresa may has suggested that those who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean, should be sent back. As always, true to form, the last thing they want you to know is what they get up to behind closed doors. So the Freedom of Information Act, will be amended to make it easier for the government to block information from being made public. Open and transparent government?? Of course one of the things that has long riled them, and their corporate robber buddies, is the protection the ordinary citizen gets from the Human Rights Act, so that is to be scrapped. And just to show their compassion, a gift to be given to their “huntin' an' shootin' fraternity, is that the will scrap the fox hunting ban, allowing their millionaire friends to tally-ho across the countryside with their dogs, ripping foxes to pieces. This is the power you get with 36.8% of the vote, there is something rotten at the heart of Britain. 

      Of course it doesn't have to be like this, we have the power, the ability and the imagination, to transform our society in to a just and fair federation of communities, based on mutual aid, co-operation, and the needs of all our people.

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

 

Metropolis, The State.

     An extract from the film Metropolis this segment deals with "The State".

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

Workers And Soldiers.

     They can call it democracy, but the state can attempt to stifle free assembly, if it so wishes. If they don't like what you're doing or saying then they will draft a law to say you can't do or say that.

     At a time of anger and organisation among the people, the state will bring about any weird and wonderful "law" to intimidate and prevent the people from expressing that anger.

      This is a wee gem from our Glasgow's democratic past, when the powers that be were getting a bit anxious about the coming together of the public and soldiers. Obviously they were a bit worried about the rebellion sweeping across industry, might just take hold in the forces. After all the imperialists needed the soldiers as the pursued their bloody land grab of that era.

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

The Financial Mafia Rules.

    A rare scene took place in Greece yesterday, February 5th. thousands of people gathered in Syntagma Square in front of the Greek parliament to voice their support for the new government's anti-austerity policies. When have we seen people gather in their thousands to support the Greek government?

The People.

     Greece's new finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, has returned from his European tour with not much to show for his efforts. He got rumblings of support from those countries who, like his country, are circling the drain-hole in this world of financially controlled madness, but short shrift from the one that holds the purse strings, Germany. Meanwhile, the Greek banks are re-assuring the public that the Greek banks are safe. That may come back to haunt them if there is no agreement by February 28.

    All these brute force tactics by the financial Mafia, fighting to protect is precious bond market bubble, goes on while the people of Greece and other European countries suffer ever increasing poverty and deprivation. In the world of the financial Mafia, the people count for nothing. This battle between the Greek government and the Western Financial Mafia makes clear who controls the show, it is certainly not the elected government of any European country.

 Rulers of the World.

      What we are witnessing is the true picture, the financial Mafia attempting to keep its control over the economies of European countries intact, in a bid to protect itself. The elected governments are expected to follow the dictate of the financial moguls, irrespective of the wishes of the people. Failing this the financial leeches will heap greater misery and deprivation on the people. Suffering of the people is not on their balance sheets. Our so called democracy is an illusion and it is wearing ever thinner.

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