Greece Today.

     A run through modern Greece today, courtesy of Teacher Dude's Grill and BBQ.

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A Smothered Arab Spring.

      In that babbling brook of bullshit, the media, there is lots of coverage of the bloodshed in Syria and lots of talk about helping the elements that are attempting to bring down the Assad regime. They spout support for democracy as why they are supporting the "Free Syrian Army", yet hardly a CS gas canister's throw away, there is another uprising which gets little or no coverage from that same babbling brook of bullshit, the uprising by the people of Bahrain. The people of Bahrain have been involved in mass protests to demand a new constitution and removal of the autocratic family that rules their country. These protests started around 2011 and are still continuing, and to date it is estimated that 114 people have been killed and approximately 2700 injured, there have been 43 deaths from excessive use of CS gas. This is an uprising by the majority of the people of Bahrain who are attempting to create a more democratic society, it has been going on as long as the Syrian bloodshed, why the difference in coverage by the babbling brook of bullshit? The main difference is that in Syria, the Assad regime doesn't let the Western corporate world get its hands on the countries resources, that really pisses off our corporate greed merchants, So he has to go, just as Saddam had to go for the same reason and why Iran is being measured up for destruction. On the other hand, the Bahrain autocratic despot family that rules that country with an iron fist, is friendly to the West and allows the Americans a free hand in keeping their massive Middle East naval killing machine based there, so that it can keep an eye on those nasty regimes that want to keep hold of their own natural resources.

       That is why our babbling brook of bullshit will always support any ragbag of armed groups as long as they get rid of any regime that doesn't play ball with the Western corporate greed machine, but will support any brutal despot dictator, family, monarch etc. as long as the allow our corporate lords and masters to profit from their existence. The people of these countries, or their conditions, are of no interest what so ever to our Western imperialists.

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THE IMF IMPLEMENTING CORPORATE FASCISM.

     This is democracy under the auspices of the IMF (International Mankind Fuckers). Spain has the highest unemployment in Europe and the instructions from the financial Mafia is, just as it is in Greece, Italy, UK, and other countries across Europe, more cuts, more unemployment, more misery for the people. The public purse has to be emptied into the coffers of the parasites that make up that financial Mafia, As long as they feel they can control the people on the streets, the cuts will go on and on. It is not a temporary adjustment, it is a shifting of all wealth into the hands of the few. Their move is towards a full corporate fascism, everything owned by the corporate world, no public assets, no public space, everything controlled by the boardroom, and the sad thing is, that they are almost there. This is an attempt to change the world, to put full power in the hands of the financial barons as they rape and plunder the planet to gratify their own greed and arrogance. Our living conditions are of no concern to them, a collapse of the social fabric of a society allows them a free hand to manipulate and control the worlds assets, while we scramble for a meager existence. 
Photos from VOID MIRROR:

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TIME TO TAKE SIDES.

      The media always shows the world affairs in terms of summits held in expensive locations surrounded by a wall of security. We are fed statements that are supposed to solve our problems but in fact are attempts at cementing their wealth and power. Somehow their decisions taken behind closed doors to smooth the path of corporate greed are supposed to make you and I feel better so that we go back to our daily grind and let them get on with our exploitation. Seldom does the media show what is actually happening on the ground among the ordinary people. Their real problems may become the subject of some future documentary, to make you feel how lucky you are now.

      However, across the globe, people are suffering the consequences of this system of corporate greed, people are angry and people are on the streets. It is an illusion to say that the system works, has ever worked or will ever work for the benefit of the people. There is not a country that does not have poverty, deprivation, protests, demonstrations and strikes, it is all a matter of degree. In Europe at the moment Greece is furthest down this line of "deficit reduction" "bank restructuring" policy, euphemisms for "plundering public assets" than the rest of us, but others are teetering on the edge, which merely means a little less suffering but more to come. This is the best this system can come up with, a continual plundering of the people. Then when the people after fighting and struggling to get some benefits from their labour, the system sets about clawing it all back into the coffers of the financial Mafia.

        Only when we an make the decisions that influence our lives will we be able to create that world where we see to the needs of all our people. As long as we leave those decisions to be made behind closed doors by the millionaire suits, we will continually be screwed. Will a millionaires make a decision that will benefit you and not themselves? They know whose side they are on, DO WE?

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NATO PROTEST CHICAGO - 2012.

This from Contra Info:

          In the context of the 2012 NATO Chicago summit, on 20th and 21st May of 2012, many counter-protesters were detained during anti-NATO protest marches. Several anarchists were arrested ‘preemptively’. They were accused of scheduling and preparing militant actions against the summit meeting of the world’s largest warmonger. There are yet no reliable information from friends and comrades who were actually there, but due to the need of dissemination of some facts about the arrests, here follows a first summary by ABC Berlin.

          Late on Wednesday evening of the 16th of May, the cops stormed a house in the neighborhood of Bridgeport in Chicago, without showing an arrest warrant or search warrant, and arrested nine people. Six were released without charges on Friday. However, three were remanded in custody, and are now being subject to investigation and threatened with charges of ‘conspiracy to commit terrorism, material support for terrorism, and possession of explosives or explosive or incendiary devices.’ They are accused of having planned to attack with Molotov cocktails four cops’ stations, the local campaign headquarters of US president Obama, the residence of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and other targets in the city. All three were described by the prosecution authorities as self-proclaimed anarchists, having travelled together from Florida several weeks before the scheduled anti-NATO protests in Chicago. During the police raid in the Bridgeport house, a device was confiscated by the cops, who now claim that this was used to make Molotov cocktails; nevertheless, according to the residents, this was simply a kit for making beer at home. A bail bond of 5 million US dollars cash was set for each defendant (a total amount of 1.5 million).

Continue READING:

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SHOULD ANYONE HAVE A MONOPOLY ON VIOLENCE?

        Is self defence violence? It is a regular feature of the media to keep referring to “violent demonstrations”, what they fail to see is that a demonstration is in essence an act of self defence against a very powerful force, in most cases it is the state or states. The question is always how far do you go in defending yourself? A lot of the violence on demonstrations is one sided and from the the state apparatus and in others the violence is not violence but no more than being provoked into defending yourself against, kettling etc.. Obviously as the superior force of the state apparatus has the upper hand by means of weaponry and training, this means, those defending themselves have to continually seek new strategies and tactics. There is an obvious conflict between the state which protects wealth, property and corporate power, and the people at the other end being exploited by this cabal, in such a conflict, should one side have the monopoly on “violence”? The following is a short extract from an interesting article from Anarchist News Dot Org:

   "The Black Bloc protesters interviewed did not endorse violence, but did take issue with how violence is portrayed when acts of vandalism do occur during demonstrations. When it comes to the state’s monopoly on violence, they said, there is no comparison.     “What is rarely acknowledged in the mainstream discussion, and even among the left, is the disproportionate nature of violence of the state in acts all around the world,” said “O.” “We are engaged in three wars — Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia — we have covert wars in Iran, we have structural violence here at home through poverty, budget cuts, police brutality, and when one person throws a rock through a window it is treated as an out-of-context violent act.”

Not all Black Bloc protesters are anarchists. However, Black Bloc tactics are easily embraced by those who prefer to resist the state and foster collective action.

For protester Rick Young, the Black Bloc protesters, who he affectionately called “the anarchy guys,” were the heroes on May Day. He joined the protesters as they surrounded the police on Hill Street. Young’s experience on the “front lines” caused him to see the Black Bloc as soldiers in a battle for social and economic change.

“The anarchy guys were the only guys that showed real solidarity today,” he said while resting in Pershing Square, the final destination of the march. “They were really together. They were the ones that allowed the marchers to come down Hill Street.”

Young speaks of his face-off with police as a “band-of-brothers” moment, where differences quickly dissolve in a group action borne out of the necessity of self-preservation.

“I don’t even know their names … but let it be known that the anarchists today broke the police line at Fourth Street and allowed the marchers to come down here,” he said.

Read the full article HERE:

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WORLD WIDE CLASS WAR.

          I keep going on about how the struggle of the ordinary people in this world is not a national struggle, it is international. Our struggle is global, national governments are in the thrall of the financial barons of the corporate world. To create a better world for all our people we need to realise this factor and join hands and rebel in unison. It is by changing the system and not the party, leader, president, that will bring about justice for all. As far as national governments go, we have a kaleidoscope of political variations but all on the same theme, namely capitalism, and yet there is not a country on the face of this earth that has not got people on the streets protesting injustice. The system has failed and failed miserably, it can't be modify, it is an elitist system that keeps a small army of parasites in unbelievable luxury and the vast majority in poverty, or struggling to stay above the poverty level.

        I first saw this from Citypulse, on Teacher Dude's Grill and BBQ, it is dedicated to people who express themselves for a cause, however to me it also highlights the fact that the world is in turmoil, not because people want struggle and confrontation, but because the system isn't working for them and forces them to confront the cause of their unjust treatment. Capitalism is spouted as the only game in town, but there is a better way, there is an alternative, we can build a society based on the needs of all our people, one based on co-operation, mutual aid and sustainability, one free from the greed of the profit motive.

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IT IS VESTED INTERESTS THAT ARE KILLING PEOPLE.

      We should never lose sight of the fact that all this talk of "austerity cuts" has a human face. While those, the faceless ones, in expensive suits, sit in marble halls discussing how, where and how deep  to cut at the social fabric of our society, the results among those without the expensive suits, you and I, the ordinary people, can be ill health, poverty, deprivation, mental health problems and even death. It is discussed politely on TV and radio and long winded economic articles appear in the mainstream media, all with a cold rationalism the belies the horror and hurt of the situation to most ordinary people. As the results of the polite decision makers policies grind on, our society changes, suicides rise dramatically, family relationships start to break down, hopelessness descends on youth, who see their future as a bleak unknown devoid of opportunity. It is not the "economy" that is killing people, it is a small group of human beings making decisions to protect their vested interests.

      The powers that be would like to keep that veneer of politeness and cold discussion, but it can't last. The people are getting more anger by the day, across the developed world we are taking to the streets to vent that anger, and there is more to come, we will not be destroyed to save the wealth of the financial Mafia.

     This from OCCUPIED LONDON.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

      At approximately 7pm on Monday evening, 78-year old S.K. set himself alight with petrol at a parking lot in the town of Lefkada, in Western Greece. The man died on the spot.

This follows from a tremendous increase in suicides across Greece, and Crete in particular – where also, two days ago (on Saturday night) a homeless man died of the cold in the streets of the city of Chania.

Exploring Revolt in Greece from Ross Domoney on Vimeo.

      On December 6th 2008 a police shooting of a 16 year old innocent boy in Athens started a two week revolt in cities around Greece. Three years on people march in remembrance of Alexis Grigoropoulos. Greece now is very much in social and economic turmoil. This films looks at the events surrounding December as well as an inside look to the often cases of revolt in a country that is sinking deeply in recession. This film also explores the role that anti authoritarian movements play in Greece.

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CORPORATE FASCISM, THE END OF DEMOCRACY.

        Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Romania, and the Occupy Movement in America, across the developed world people are on the streets protesting. All this has nothing to do with national governments, it is a world wide corporate assault on the public purse. The national governments are just carrying out the dictates of the corporate financial Mafia. Here in the UK there are those who see the privatisation of public services, including our health service, as a Tory Party affair, yet across the world the same thing is happening irrespective of the political persuasion of the government. In Romania the riots there are against the austerity cuts and the attempt to privatise their already rather flimsy National Health Service. Social Democrat, Liberal, Socialist, Conservative, or whatever, they all have the same agenda, cut public spending and privatise everything that can make money for the billionaire corporate class. Call it what you will, but it is corporate fascism in full frontal attack on the conditions of the ordinary people. Voting for this party or that party, is like choosing which end of the egg to crack first, the big end or the little end. You end up with the same thing on your plate.

         This system of corporate fascism can't be modified, repaired, or reformed, it can't be turned into a benevolent beast that will see to the well being of the people. It is an elitist system where control stays firmly in the hands of the super wealthy, the millionaire/billionaire parasites that sit nameless, in rooms in marble halls shuffling their billions around the globe destroying economies and countries in the pursuit of ever increasing wealth. In this system, wealth means power, and it is rigged to make sure you and I don't get our hands on the wealth or the power.

       If we want a better world for ourselves, our kids and our grand kids, then we have to destroy this profit sucking, parasite controlled monster. We can't look to the people who stand to gain from this financial sewage system we live under, why should they want to give up privilege, power and unbelievable wealth for our benefit? Forget the ballot box, forget the party political system, these are the toys you are give to play with while the big boys rip you off. The system can never work in your favour, it has to be a new way of thinking, grass roots, people power, community organisations, direct action, occupations, are the only road to real change, we have to take control of our society if we want to change it to benefit all our people.

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GUNS ON THE STREETS.

          

          According to a recent Guardian article by Allan Travis, it seems that the UK millionaire cabal is considering employing water cannon, plastic bullets and live ammunition to deal with disturbances on our street. I have a sneaking suspicion that the wealthy parasites are looking ahead at the possibility of the UK public taking to the streets in anger at the continued slashing of their standard of living, to fund bankers aid. They would want to be prepared and have every form of repression and intimidation stamped with their badge of legality before the events. Of course the British state has used live ammunition on our streets before now. Excluding Northern Ireland, we can go back to 1919 when we saw British troops line Glasgow city centre, docks and place machine gunners on top of the City Chambers Building in George Square and other buildings in the city. This was after disturbances during the “40 hour week” strike, an event that became know as "Bloody Friday".  In  Liverpool the troops shot and killed two strikers on the street during the 1911 dockers strike. So if there are those out there that view the violence in Egypt etc. and think that it couldn't happen here, well read your history and think again, it has, and it could again. The state will always do what it needs to do to protect the wealth and power of those whose hands are on the power levers. The people must be kept in their place, as far as the parasites are concerned.

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AN ANNIVERSARY.

     
From The Greek Streets. 
           Athens saw two commemorative demonstrations for Alexis Grigoropoulos today: the first one in the morning called by high school students, and the second one called by anarchists, leftists and grassroots trade unions. Both demos saw clashes with the police around Syntagma square; as of this time (21:10 GMT+2) some lower intensity clashes continue around the Exarcheia area.

Earlier on, riot police had stormed the anarchist social space Nosotros in Exarcheia. As of 6 pm local time, there were 9 arrests, 6 detentions and 14 police injured according to a police report. The number is bound to increase during the night.  anniversary

 

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NOVEMBER 30 TAKE TO THE STREETS.

       The 30 November is approaching, a day when thousands of people will take to the streets of the UK in anger at the attack on their pensions. The cuts are all deemed necessary to reduce the UK deficit. One line of thought that our millionaire political school thugs will not mention in deficit reduction is war.

One third of our budget deficit could be wiped out by ending spending on foreign wars and scrapping trident. Reports today say that even if NATO leaves Afghanistan the West will be picking up the bill for the keeping the Taliban at bay to the tune of $7.2 billion dollars annually. Think of the billions that the millionaire cabal spend on death and destruction in other countries, while the elderly die of the cold and children go hungry, right here in the UK. It is the economics of insanity, unless of course you are in the corporate club. These vampires make billions from war, the arms industry loves war and the big corporate construction companies love destruction, it's all good for business. We need a change of system, not government.

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WORLD STRIKE 2012!!!

        A number of years ago a group set about trying to convince everybody in the world to strike for a moneyless society in the year 2012. Well it seemed rather far fetched to me at the time, but here we are with 2012 almost upon us, and the conditions have changed dramatically. We have protests in cities across the world demanding an end to the financial repression that is ruining millions of lives. We have cities across the world where people have come together to occupy their city centres, again, against the financial corruption, excesses and repression, the banks have forced on the ordinary people.

         Now more than ever the answer seems to be for the people of the world to come together and have, not that national strike, but the first ever world wide strike, with the one aim, to destroy once and for all, the fanancial world, the global corporate financial beast, that dominates and devastes our lives in country after country.

         I now no longer think it is far fetched, but with today's communications a real possibility, and with the political and financial corruption all around us, it seems the best option.

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THE RETURN OF PAST POVERTY FOR GREECE.

        When the media reports on Greece it is all about the Greek government trying to "balance the books" which translates into "placate the IMF" (International Mankind Fuckers), with some coverage of strikes and protests. Never do they capture what is actually going on in Greece, they fail miserably to convey what it is like to be living in Greece at the moment. A country where all the ordinary workers have seen their wages cut by as much as a third, their taxes rise by by the same, and new taxes introduced. Add to that a flood of redundancies and massive cuts to health, 40%, education and all other social services. These type of cuts take a civilised country and return it to the beginning of the 1900's. Naturally the people are objecting, and rightly so. 

      There is one photographer who does capture what it is like on the streets of Greece with photographs that are each an art work in their own right. Yiannis Biliris's photographs capture not just an instant but a story, an emotion, a living period. You can see more of his work HERE.

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EXCESSIVE SENTENCE FOR EARTH FIRST ACTIVIST.

Some information that was omitted from the previous post regarding Earth First in Amarica.

Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to 2 years in prison at the Salt Lake City federal courthouse. He was taken immediately into custody, being denied the typical 3 weeks afforded to put his affairs in order and say goodbye to his friends and family. Following his being taken into custody, 26 more people were arrested while occupying the Federal court house of Salt Lake City, Utah, in solidarity with him.
       Meanwhile Earth First has been active in Oregon 

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MORE AN THAT,- LAND OF THE FREE!!!.

       The following information was gleaned from an article on DISSIDENT VOICE, the full article is well worth a read, very detailed and informative.

       While it is becoming more widely know that the US imprisons a greater proportion of its citizens than any other country in the world, it should also be noted that the US, that Land of the Free has seen an increase in the number of peaceful protesters being arrested since Obama came to office. Since the Obama inauguration there have been over 2,600 arrests of activists protesting in the US. Recent research shows that since the start of 2011 over 670 individuals have been arrested at protests in the US. More than 1290 during 2010 and 665 arrested during 2009.

       There has been a steady increase in the number of people arrested at protests since 2009 and these protests have covered a wide range of campaigns. They have been protests against US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Guantanamo, strip mining, home foreclosures, Nuclear weapons, immigration policies, mistreatment of hotel workers, police brutality budget cut backs, the mistreatment of Bradley Manning, Blackwater, attempts to cut back on collective bargaining.

      What is also happening in the US is that there is a steady increase in the number of Americans willing to risk arrest and imprisonment for acts of civil disobedience. That itself is a healthy sign that the American people are becoming more aware of the total lack of democracy in their country.

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