All Property Is Theft.

       From gentrification to publicisation, seems the right way to go. This Tarcoteca counterinfo piece from a comrade at arrezafe:

 ------- A group of "five stars squatters" has taken over a historic office block yards from Buckinhan Palace. Activist who have entered the former HQ of the Institute of  Directors at 123 Pall Mall today vowed to stay "as long as they can". The six-storey, multimillion-pound office block is 700 yards from Buckinham Palace. The squatters moved in last week and have renamed it as the Instutute of Dissidents.-----

Read the full article HERE:

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

Don't Drink From the Babbling Brook Of Bullshit.

       We all know that we can't believe what we read and hear in that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, but we have to have a means of finding out what is going on in our world. We have to be our own media, a way of projecting our dreams our ideas, we have to know what the people are doing in countries across the world, to communicate and show solidarity with the struggles that are happening on a daily basis in country after country. We have to learn from each other's struggles and move our projects forward, to turn our dreams to a reality and free ourselves from this nightmare that is capitalism with it attendant deprivation, wars, misery, and exploitation.
From Roar Magazine:

Read more about this project HERE:

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5th Anniverssary Of The Murder Of Alexandros Grigoropoulos.

       Two days before the fifth anniversary of the murder in Exarcheia, Athens, by the police, of the youth Alexandros Grigoropoulos, plain clothes police shot and wounded an anarchist in the same area, Exarcheia.

This from Contra Info:

     Before I start describing the incident, I would like to mention the reasons why I haven’t initiated any formal complaint or lawsuit. First off, I declare myself an anarchist-antiauthoritarian. Therefore, my conscience cannot be misled by legal proceedings. Freedom combatants should draw the battle lines against the system and its “privileges” offered to us. In the following account of the incident (which occurred two days before the anniversary of the murder of comrade Alexis Grigoropoulos, in 2008), I want to make it clear that I do not consider myself a victim of the described attack, because the battle lines are drawn, and we stand against the enemy, as I already mentioned.

      On the night of December 4, 2013 I was in the downtown area of Exarchia alongside other comrades, when we understood that we were followed by three plainclothes cops close to the corner of Benaki and Eressou streets. We briefly talked about what to do, and then we chased and harassed the cops. Two of the plainclothes ran away on Dervenion street toward Zoodochou Pigis street, while the third cop ran off to Eressou street, heading also to Zoodochou Pigis. It came as no surprise when we saw the first two thugs making a turn into Valtetsiou street and then on to Charilaou Trikoupi street, exactly where an anti-riot squadron is permanently stationed. We looked back, towards the third cop, and I yelled at him: “Where do you think you’re going, you fuckin’ undercover?” Suddenly I noticed that he was holding a gun pointed at me, and he shouted: “Come here… I’ll fuck you over” pointing his gun at my chest. In the next few seconds he cocked his pistol, ready to fire, and I shouted back at him: “What are you going to do, shoot me?” He shot me in the leg. At that precise moment, I didn’t realized that I was injured however, and the thought that his next bullet would hit me made me run towards Exarchia square, where I finally saw I was wounded in the leg.

       I considered useful to disclose this information not to spread fear but rage. We won’t chicken out no matter what; they must get it through their heads we don’t bend, not even with bullets.

      Attack first and always, with every possible way and every means, against the State and its minions.

See each other on the streets today, December 6 and every day.

The bullet will be returned to both the instigators and the perpetrators of the shot.

        Strength to the vagabonds who are accused in the cases of Velventos and Nea Filadelfeia.

     Two days later, on the anniversary of the murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, the people of Athens took to the streets to mark this cold blooded murder of the young Alexandros, and as normal in Greece, when you take a protest to the streets, you are met with the full force of the state apparatus. As well as the usual stun grenades, baton attacks and detentions, the police spent a considerable effort trying to remove radical posters from the walls in Exarcheia.

These details From The Greek Streets:

20:48 GMT +2 Police have cordoned much of exarcheia.

20:16 GMT +2 The police have already attacked the square in exarcheia. People are gathering and setting up barricades on Benaki street and sidestreets.

19:56 GMT +2 The demonstration in Athens has ended, people are gathering at the place where Alexis was murdered. A couple of hundreds are there already, gathering is called for 9pm local time – the time that Alexis was shot.

14:27 GMT +2 Cops are slowly leaving now and students are being released after being searched by the cops. Seems to be the first time the cops have used the “kettling” technique (well-known in the UK) in a greek demo.

14:16 GMT +2 More students trapped, probably about 300 now.

14:02 GMT +2 They are now pushing all journalists away and more cops are arriving.

13:45 GMT +2 Student demo of approximately 2-3000 people is coming to an end. The cops have kettled about 200 people outside the university.

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Prosecuted For Being Anti-Fascist.

       There can be no denying that the Greek state is indeed a European fascist state. Today it sets the standard for other European states to follow, it has brought to court two respected individuals for supporting anti-fascist rhetoric. The tide is turning fast.

This from The Greek Streets:

 
      Moutzouris was sued because of his role as a vice-chancellor of the Athens Polytechnic, at the time when this hosted the Athens Indymedia servers. Michael-Matsas was sued because of the anti-fascist slogans chanted by members of the EEK in May 2009. By upholding the GD suing and bringing the case to court, the Greek “justice” system has scored a Europe-wide first in persecuting anti-fascist discourse.
    In response, hundreds of anti-fascists gathered in solidarity outside the Athens Courthouse this morning. Inside the courts, the persecuting “witnesses” (Skordeli and the now GD MP, Panagiotaros), were nowhere to be seen.

Read the full article HERE:

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Stifling The Voice Of The People.

      While the Greek state continues to carry out the dictate of the financial Mafia, it is also tasked with another, in their eyes, necessary duty, to stifle any resistance to this rape and plunder of the Greek people and their assets. The more the people struggle for alternative and more community based modes of existence, the harder the fist of state repression strikes. As well as longstanding squats across Greece being evicted, there is now another attempt to close down the people's voice of communication. One of the means by which the ordinary people of Greece communicate and co-ordinate their struggle against the policies of poverty and deprivation is through Indymedia Athens and the longstanding, Radio 98fm. Once again they are under attack. The state needs a monopoly of the means of communication, to pump out its propaganda and drown the voice of resistance. A people who can't communicate are a divide and fragmented people, much easier to subjugate and control. It is of the utmost importance that the ordinary people protect, maintain and  grow their own means of communication.

This from The Greek Streets:

Indymedia Athens and Radio 98fm under attack

Thursday, April 11, 2013

      On Thursday 11 April the Greek extreme right wing government shut down Athens Indymedia and radio station 98fm.

Solidarity to Athens Indymedia and 98 fm.

     Urgent call for a protest tomorrow, Friday 12th of April, 13:00, in the central square of Polytechnioupoli, Zografou.

Means of transport busses 608 & 242

Requesting to spread this call!!

For updates in Greek visit the temporary page http://indymedia.squat.gr/

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MASS ARRESTS OF ANARCHISTS IN ATHENS.

      Greek state comes down hard on anarchists in Athens. After the eviction of a 25 year squat in Athens, it was briefly re-occupied this morning, and then re-evicted. This was followed by the arrest of over 150 anarchist. Like I always say, when the state feels threatened, it becomes a bare-knuckle fight, the niceties of party political mud sling soon disappear and the rubber bullets, water cannon, batons and all the paraphernalia of repression come into full view. This from The Greek Streets:

Villa Amalias re-squatted and re-evicted; largest number of anarchists detained in a single day in 15 years; updates

(Follow today’s development via this ticker or via our January 9th tag)

UPDATE, 19.45 pm Another three anarchists have been detained at the corner of Patision and Alexandras ave, bringing today’s total up to 152.
UPDATE, 19.20 pm At least 1,500 people have gathered outside the Police HQ in solidarity with those arrested throughout the day.
UPDATE, 17.55 pm Earlier on, anarchists held a spontaneous demo outside the Ministry of Finance as PM Samaras held a press conference inside, in response to the Villa Amalias raid.
UPDATE, 17.50 pm More than 1,000 people inside the Polytechnic for tonight’s assembly. Meanwhile, a police water cannon has been spotted outside the police HQ on Alexandras avenue. The other two central universities in Athens, the School of Economics and the Law school, have been shut following orders by their administrations.
UPDATE, 17.35 pm The 40 anarchists detained earlier on inside the Democratic Left party HQ have all been released.
UPDATE, 17.15 pm News from inside the Polytechnic: the assembly location has changed, from Gini to the Max auditorium. Outside, riot police squads are stationed on most side streets off Stournari street and around the entire campus.

Catch up on the full story with live coverage:

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TO SLOWLY DIE OR FIGHT BACK?

      It is becoming obvious that there will be no peace in Greece until the present system collapses and is replaced by something nearer the people's desires. The poverty is too painful, the suffering too severe, the wounds too deep, to let it all go and drift back to the facade that was called normality. The people have seen through the illusion, have seen through the smoke and mirrors, have come face to face with the brutal reality of the capitalist system, and it is too grotesque to allow it to continue.

     The following article from The Greek Streets, gives another example of how the state will always find money to spend on repression, even, for example, as the people run out of medication for serious illnesses. How should the people react when the state can find, approximately €16.5 million, for police equipment while the elderly and the sick are allowed to slowly die from lack of care and treatment?

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Greek original

THE MONEY EXISTS [1], or…

Authority sets its priorities straight (it always did) Amidst a full-out operation aimed at the economic impoverishment of the poorest segments of greek society, amidst the complete draining of funds toward anything that we may have previously known to comprise a minimum protection for the popular strata (healthcare and treatment, pensions etc), authority now comes to shamelessly and provocatively show even to the most superficial of observers what its priority and its strategy is.

     What could it be that the impoverished Greek society of 2013 needs? Why of course, 499 new police patrol cars and 217 motorbikes for the scoundrels of Dias and Delta. And so, in early December 2012 the call-out was made for car importers to bid for their supply, with a budget of 16.445.000 euros. So, the money exists…

       THE PETROL EXISTS, or…

The repressed must set their priorities straight.

On January 6 and 7 we attacked the official importers of…

* Citroen, on Amfitheas Str

* Hyundai, on Acharnon Str

* Volvo, on Vouliagmenis Ave

* Daihatsu and Fiat, on Tsaldari Str in Polygono

* Honda, on Alexandras Ave…

…companies, that is, that are nevertheless targeted by the revolted – since the automobile industry comprises one of the driving forces of capitalist production and economy.

In addition, this is a warning message to all car importers who will take part in the bidding called by the Greek Police, contributing in this way to economic impoverishment but also to the intensification of repression and policing.

We promise, and you’d better believe this, that whoever “wins” the bidding will face a targeted and constant barrage of attacks.

NOTHING SHALL REMAIN UNANSWERED

IT’S EITHER THEM OR US

P.S. Our thoughts are with the comrade Panagiotis Argyrou [2]

[1] A reference to the infamous pre-electoral quote by ex-PM Papandreou before taking power and implementing severe cuts.

[2] Latest news on the health of Panagiotis Argyrou at contrainfo

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IN SOLIDARITY, "WE DO NOT FORGET".

     The latest From Athens on the demonstrations marking the death of Alexis Gigoropoulos, the youth murdered by the Greek police in 2008.

From The Greek Streets:

Extended riots in Exarcheia four years after the killing of Alexandros Grigoropoulos by police

Thursday, December 6, 2012

      On December 6, 2012, four years on from the cold-blooded murder of Alexandros Grigoropoulos by police, the Athens neighbourhood of Exarcheia saw yet another round of riots and clashes between people and the police.
       As of 22.30 GMT+2 (Athens time) intense clashes continued at Exarcheia square, as well as at Mesollogiou and Tzavela streets, which is where Alexis was murdered. Barricades have been set up in many side-streets leading to the square. Riot police have attempted to storm the square a few times, only to be fought back by the people. In one of those occasions an undercover policeman was discovered by the people and severely beaten.
      There is at least one heavily injured demonstrator. So far, at last 78 people have been detained of which 9 were arrested (i.e. charged).

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"WE DO NOT FORGET" - "WE DO NOT FORGIVE".

       Police brutality is known the world over, however, in Athens one act of particular callous brutality by the police, sparked some of the biggest riots and protests Athens had seen in years. It was on December 6th 2008 young Alexis Grogoropoulos was shot dead by police in Athens, his crime, sitting in a cafe with some young friends and jeering at the police. This callous murder brought to a head the simmering hatred the people felt for the police. Four years on as the people prepare to march to mark this young boy's brutal murder the slogans on the streets are, “we do not forget” and “we do not forgive”,

    From The Greek Streets:

The shot still echoes and people will march again. Posters calling for marches today.
” We do not Forget, We do not Forgive, We are going on…the ghost of December is always here, Solidarity, Self-Organisation, Direct Democracy, Newspaper Drasi”

” The State continues assassinating, destroying everything -We struggle for everything, Authoritarian Movement of Athens (AK)”

” A Ghost is looming above the city” Thursday 6/12 March 10:30 on Democracy Avenue, Anarchists by the Schools of Agioi Anargyroi and Kamatero.”

” We do not Forget we do not forgive, Local march in St Tryfon Square, Terpsithea” (Glyfada: South Athens)

“We do not forget, We do not forgive, We go forward” March in Agios Dimitris Square, Antifascists of Arta”

“Did you forget? We do not forget, murderers in uniform killed Alexis” poster from Chios

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ALWAYS FILTH.

      One of the factors in this onslaught on the people of Europe is the fact that in this country and others, no more so in Greece, there has been signs of rapid growth in at least one sector of the economy, pawnshops. As people become more and more desperate in their struggle to survive they start to dispose of all their precious possessions. Everything from jewelry to sentimental family heirlooms. In their desperation they will accept a pittance for them from the leeches that run these establishments, who will in turn go on to live a life of luxury on the backs of the poor. Normal practice for this system. 

From The Greek Streets:

      The poster below comes from the “Network of tangible solidarity and resistance” of the city of Chalkida, as a response to the pawnshops (gold-haggling shops) that have mushroomed all across the country recently.

 It reads:

I Buy gold. 
Jewelry, teeth, wedding rings,
badges, baptism crosses, relics,
memories, belongings and dignity.
IN DEROGATORILY LOW PRICES.
Because I know you are desperate.
I know you can’t afford your housing tax,
your kid’s tuition, your medicine, your food.
I know that you are in despair and that you don’t know
how to resist, that you’re scared.
I know, therefore, that you’ll take whatever I give you
and that you’ll even thank me on top.
Yesterday a black-marketeer, 
Today a pawnbroker,
Always filth. 
– Chalkida Network of tangible solidarity and resistance 

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GENERAL STRIKE, GREECE.

     September 26, a general strike in Greece, you can follow it live at Occupied London: HERE:

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P0LITE LANGUAGE - BRUTAL RESULTS.

     What does "austerity cuts" really mean. We here in the UK still haven't yet had our full dose of financial Mafia medicine. there is more coming down the pipeline. If you want to see what is in store for you just look across at Greece. There they have seen their education system disintegrate, schools with no books, etc. their health service devastated, hospitals and clinics closing, running short on medicines, unemployment stratospheric, with all that, that entails. So it goes on, a sea of human suffering, misery and deprivation, all summed up in those nice sounding words, "austerity cuts". 

       Our shiny millionaire politicians along with the media, (the babbling brook of bullshit), are forever pouring out those nice sounding euphemisms. "Wage freeze" translates into possible malnutrition, foreclosure, or hypothermia in the winter. "Benefit reform", attacking the meager living standards of the lowest paid and most vulnerable. "Capping housing benefit" throwing families onto the street. There is always a reality to their respectable sounding words, words that taken together really mean plundering the public purse for the benefit of the financial Mafia.

      Like I said, we haven't been pushed down as far as Greece, YET, but where is the guarantee that we will somehow be saved from that. Do you think that the compassion of the millionaires and their friends in the financial Mafia will some how see our suffering, and stop stuffing their bank accounts? As far as they are concerned, everything is working fine, we the public are pouring billions into their pockets, in the hope that they will be nice to us in the future.

A report from The Greek Streets:

140 university departments are closing down –

hospital doctors on partial strike

        The ministry of education decided to close down 140 higher education departments including entire institutes. In an effort to keep the society as less educated as possible, and given that a lot of young people are developing a radical political identity and practice within the universities, the government now closes down entire departments while from this year on the free textbooks policy comes to an end, while there are systematic efforts to introduce tuition fees.

        Meanwhile the union of the hospital doctors yesterday announced that they are going on a partial-strike accepting only A&E patients and rescheduling every arranged appointments with patients. Hospital doctors protest because the Ministry of Health does not pay them for work they done, while doctors salaries have fallen circa 40% the last couple of years.

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TAKE BACK THE STREETS.

       What a good idea, but simple, could it catch on here?

This from The Greek Streets:

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Take back the Greek streets, with art. from Ross Domoney on Vimeo.

As part of Athens fringe festival, a bus full of artists hits Athenian neighbourhoods as well as central districts. The idea is to encourage people to take back their squares with colourful forms of art. Activities like this would encourage people to gather, provoking discussion on how to take action against harsh cuts, that are being pushed amongst many spheres of Greek society. I could not help but smile filming this, in a city that has had all too much of a dark climate recently.

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THE FOUNDATIONS ARE CRUMBLING.

      No matter where we look, the system is in crisis, but we are told by the illusion creators, that growth and prosperity is just around the corner, if only would would accept "austerity" in the mean time. Of course "austerity" translates in different ways, for some it means utter deprivation and for others, grinding poverty and for others it means just hanging on with their finger tips. However none of these "austerity" measures will in any way affect those administrating the policies. NO the "austerity" is for the ordinary people. No matter what magic mathematics the use, the ordinary people of Europe are in for a long spell of poverty where the very fabric of their social structures have been torn apart. 

     We either accept this debt serfdom and deprivation to allow the financial barons of this corporate fascism to re-capitalise their coffers, or we seize the moment, the opportunity, to take control of our own lives. We can organise across the continent of Europe refusing to be plunged into penury, and setting about creating a society that is based on the needs of all our people. The system is splitting at the foundations, it can't survive without our acceptance of poverty and deprivation, why should we? We are being offered, either accept poverty and deprivation, or everything will collapse and we will be faced with poverty and deprivation. If we accept their method, then it is poverty and deprivation for us and unimaginable wealth for them, the choice is ours.

     Once again an excellent article from Occupied London.

       We now see a need to grow, to become even more relevant, to move beyond the usual political subdivisions and beyond reacting to capital and state violence and grasp seriously this moment of rupture. Our contribution in this direction is this call to effectively share analysis and coordinate action across Europe.

       Information coming from the mainstream media intends to divide us: it seeks to put the blame for the crisis first on the laziness of one People, then on the greed of another. In the mainstream media, people are seen as isolated victims or as a mass of protesters, but never as thinking, desiring and acting people who can take control of their own futures in common. This is a new battlefield where our conditions of living, producing and reproducing will be set for generations to come. 

CONTINUE READING:

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MUTUAL AID - AN ANSWER TO OUR PROBLEMS.

          Mutual aid is the basis of any decent society, it takes us away from the capitalist consumer juggernaut, and breaks our dependency on the profit system that bleeds us and keeps us in perpetual struggle for survival. There is no avenue of our lives that we could not enrich by mutual aid. It can be introduced in education, home maintenance, making and repairing things for the community, growing our own food, book sharing schemes, toy swap schemes for the kids, the list is endless. As our involvement grows the list grows and we become more empowered and less dependent on selling ourselves to the highest bidder in an effort to support our families. The dire situation in Greece has forced the Greek people to look for alternatives to try to hold on to their dignity and try to enhance their lives, one of the latest schemes to develop is #tutorpool, a mutual aid scheme of education. The Greek education system, because of "austerity" cuts, has been decimated and is practically defunct, this scheme shows the way we can organise our society outside the state and corporate strangle hold. An extract from Occupied London.

SOLIDARITY.

      #tutorpool is an education solidarity network created by ordinary citizens living in an unordinary country in very unordinary times. Summer protests at Syntagma Square and other squares throughout the country fostered more than a profound sense of community and solidarity among citizens in Greece; friendships forged in the “square” gave way to solidarity initiatives.
#tutorpool began spontaneously in twitter after a discussion between few people and took less than a few hours to spread. That explains the use of the hash tag (#) before the name, to remind everyone that internet offers people the tools to meet, organize and work together. In less than a week, #tutorpool begun to take the form of a volunteer network, offering educational support to students whose families could not afford “coaching”. A group of volunteers managed to pull each of their skills together under the www.tutorpool.gr website and begun offering online and actual courses to students all over Greece, reaching as far as the isolated islands. At this point, less than two months later than the very first tweet, #tutorpool has more than 300 volunteer teachers, 102 students, and 205 courses offered throughout the country.
CONTINUE READING:

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THE VIPER TONGUE OF THE MEDIA.

        It is sad that when there is any sort of demonstration against the exploitation by this corporate fascist system, people still have to rely on the viper tongued pro-system media. The mainstream media has always been, and always will be, a propaganda machine for those in power, a pro establishment anti-common people, weaver of illusions. I have often spouted my view on the lies, illusions and omissions that fill the sewer that goes by the name of mainstream media, Media - Lies and Illusions, is just one of my post on this dangerous and vile grouping.

By John Hartfield.

      A couple of statements lifted from Occupied London issued by the anarchist collective Vogliamo Tutto in Athens:

       You were, and you shall remain. scum, informants and journalists. "Hooded-youths loot the centre of Athens. The burning city is at their mercy. Chaos, 50 scum vandalised anything they found in front of them and pushed away the peaceful demonstrators. Where is the police?" (description of the events of Feb 12 by the informant-led media). The lackeys of the bosses offered their credentials once again. The disgusting coverage of journalists who did not hesitate to talk about workers threatened to lose their jobs as a consequence of the riots, or supposed small businessmen (yes, the banks and the multinationals!) of Stadiou Ave! ... to conspiracy theories, to parastatist provocateurs. These are not merely loopy or sensitive journalistic voices. The sewer opened up by the scum of the media is a standard practice of the sovereign. Libel, slander and misinformation aim at the isolation and the condemnation of social counter-violence and the scaring off of fighting and insurgent proletarians. At this crossroads, no-one can avoid taking a stance. You either bow your head, or you take to the streets! Vogliamo tutto e per tutti, anarchist group in the neighbourhood of Nea Smyrni and the surrounding areas

        We were, and we shall remain on the streets and at the barricades. Thousands of insurgent proletarians either chose to rage-fully clash with the repressive forces of the bosses, or they refused to retreat from Syntagma square, despite the countless tear-gas thrown by the riot police." -- A description from what we lived during the magical moments of the barricades but also of the demonstration of February 12. On the day of the sealing of the loan agreement, the day when local and international bosses were deciding the complete sucking off the blood of their subjects, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. Slogans, passion, clashes, setting alight of banks and commercial chains, expropriation and active solidarity between workers on the streets. The hounds of democracy attacked rabidly but failed to counter the rage of the people. At the news shows later in the evening, a second wave of media-repression attack followed, in an attempt to halt social counter-violence and to slander the multitude in struggle. And yet, everyone who found themselves on the streets those days knows only too well what happened, they know who the true parastatists are, who steal their lives away, who are their enemies. There is no such thing as objective reality. You either remain a spectator, or you are there... Vogliamo tutto e per tutti, anarchist group in the neighbourhood of Nea Smyrni and the surrounding areas

         I have no doubt that the imposed colonial governors in charge of Greece at the moment, now that they have passed their new legislation, will expect the people of Greece to clear the streets and accept their exploitation and deprivation with subservience. As they syphon every public asset out of Greece and raid the public purse for the benefit of the banks and bond markets of the corporate world, the people are an inconvenience, a nuisance factor. No doubt the media will be used to misinform and delude the people to get them to suffer in silence. If that fails, as I believe it will, then the state apparatus will swing into action to brutally repress the justified and righteous anger of the people. It is a time when solidarity across borders is the only answer, this is our struggle, we are not British, French or Greek, we are the people.

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