I Am The Crowd.

Another day, another poem.

I AM THE CROWD.

I am the crowd

I swim in the quagmire of poverty

its hooks, its barbs, tear my flesh

rupture my dreams,

I hold my breath for centuries

hoping to break through, grasp pure air.

Through the murky mire

I see bright things, shiny things sparkle

I see women in fine dresses, men in silk shirts.

I ask myself,

why do I swim in this cesspool?

I want the light and warmth of rectitude

to caress my labouring body,

seeds of my dreams to bloom

like wild flowers in a meadow.

One day, I will use my boundless strength

to haul this torn, battered being

out of the morass

onto the warm grassy bank,

when I do;

Woe betide you, women in fine dresses

woe betide you mister in your fine silk shirt

should you ever try to get in my way,

for I am the strength of the world,

I am the crowd.

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

 

The New Imperialist Mercenaries.

         In the past Africa helped the empires of Britain, France, Germany, Belgium etc. to enrich their coffers and swell the bank accounts of captains of industry. Of course this help wasn't given willingly, it was extracted at the point of a gun and under the most brutal hand of occupation. For many decades the peoples of Africa fought continuous savage battles to throw off the yoke of brutal colonialism. In most cases the imperialist troops left, but not before the men of empire had set up a series of corrupt puppet governments, to enable the rich resources of that continent to be continued to be plundered for the enrichment of the West. Today the imperialists of the West continue their rape and plunder of the African peoples, though this time round it is not with the gun and brutal occupation. The new troops are mercenaries in the shape of Western corporations, backed up and financed by the various Western governments, the UK a willing partner. To the big corporations Africa has no people, only resources and the Western governments support whole heartedly that philosophy. Your tax money goes to support the new imperialists as they ride roughshod over the peoples of Africa, plundering, polluting and empoverishing that vast continent to bolster the wealth and power of the Western corporations. Africa has untold wealth and resources, they are being extracted in vast unimaginable quantities, but its people are among the poorest on the planet. The enormous wealth from those resources in the the vast majority of cases, end up in the pockets of Western corporations. It is simply government backed, supported and sponsored plunder.

From The World Development Movement.

Published on Apr 3, 2014

Find out more: www.wdm.org.uk/food
      Executives from companies including Monsanto and Unilever visit the UK government to thank ministers for their support in carving up the African continent for their profits.
     This spoof video highlights how the UK government is channelling millions of pounds worth of aid into helping multinational corporations get their hands on African resources and markets.
     Some of the world's biggest multinational food corporations see Africa as the final frontier for expanding their markets. This is kicking off what African groups are calling a "new corporate scramble for Africa"

Find out more: www.wdm.org/food

This is a spoof stunt by the World Development Movement

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

Capitalist Success Doesn't Look At Poverty.

     In capitalist Europe, Germany is seen as the shining example of capitalist success. It is meant to be what the rest of Europe should try to aspire to, prosperity for all. Of course like all the tales of capitalist success, as far as the ordinary people are concerned it is all an illusion. The German Joint Welfare Association report on poverty for 2013 shows a very definite pattern of increasing poverty for Germany as a whole. It also states that from 2006 to 2012 the growth of poverty was steady going from 14% to 15.2%. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), approximately 10% of German children live in families whose income is below the poverty line. A UNICEF study finds that 8.6% of children in Germany have long term experiences of poverty that seriously affect their entire future. It also finds that more than 1 million adolescents have spent more than one third of their childhood and youth living in poverty. 

       Officially, homelessness doesn't exist in Germany, there are no official figures held by the state. So we have to rely on estimates made by independent groups that offer social assistance to such people. One institution that offers assistance to homeless, Bundesarbeitgemeinschhaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAG) states that their figures suggest that there are approximately 591,000 homeless in Germany, however if you add the homeless immigrants, the total looks more like 860,000, roughly the same size as the population of one of Germany's largest cities, Cologne. This figure breaks down as, approximately one third are women, almost the same number are young people and children, men making up 39%. BAG also estimates that approximately another million are under threat of homelessness, or living in sub-standard housing. It also estimates that some homeless with families can get some temporary accommodation with friends and relatives, but approximately 35,000 single people face living on the streets. A further figure from BAG states that in the winter of 1996/97, a staggering 27 people froze to death on the streets of Germany, one of the worst figures among the world's most prosperous nations.

      That is the irony, one of the most prosperous nations on the planet and poverty, homelessness and freezing to death on the streets is accepted. It is the economist apologists for the capitalist system that can only see one side of the equation and spout German as a success story. Germany is growing rapidly in wealth, according to Manager Magazin, October issue, the assets of the richest 100 have increased during the last twelve months by 5.2% to a staggering €336.6 billion and there are 135 billionaires living in Germany and according to a recent study by Credit Suisse, there are approximately 1.7 million, “dollar millionaires” living in Germany.

       In this insane capitalist world, success means rich getting richer, and the rest can go to hell in handcart.

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

A To Z Of Religions.

Today's poem takes a wee look at religion.

He used a condom.

A to Z of Religions

Acclaim Arrogant Absolutes.

Bellow Bygone Beliefs.

Casuist Cackling Cabal.

Deadly Divine Dogma.

Embellish Earlier Errors.

Form Fearful Fundamentalists.

Gaily Gabble Gehenna.

Hype Holy Hate.

Ignorantly Idolise Illusion.

Justify Judgmental Jargon.

Knowingly Kindle Kulturkampf.

Lambaste Liberal Learning.

Machiavellian Mind Moulding.

Narrate Nescient Nostrum.

Obligatory Obnoxious Obfuscation.

Peremptory Pestiferous Panjandrum.

Quickly Quell Querists.

Redundant Reactionary Rants.

Suppress Scholastic Scepticism.

Totally Trammel Tolerance.

Ululate Useless Utterances.

Vaticinate Vicious Vengeance.

Wailing Wearisome Waffle.

Extol Excessive Exaltation.

Y? Y? Y?

Zany Zealous Zealots.

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Prophet Or Dreamer?

Continuing poem a day month, today's rendering.

PROPHET OR DREAMER?

Am I a dreamer?

Ever dazzled by unrisen dawns,

always hearing the song of liberty

though freedom's flag is torn.

I walk towards a world

no borders, kings or slaves;

history claims the warrior's hand

peace the crown of bays.

I see the hungry feasting

midst the brotherhood of man;

all the children singing

the fear of famine gone.

I find the common man

hold his brother dear

create a world of social justice,

Elysian fields their sphere.

Freedom's flag is torn,

quiet is liberty's song,

unrisen suns still to dawn;

prophet,   or dreamer born?

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Should The Greedy Control Our Food??

    It is obvious that climate change is happening, floods, droughts, extreme storms, along with rising temperatures is no longer a prediction, it is here and now. Of course, as is always the case in this capitalist world, when things go wrong it is always the poor and the low waged that pay the highest price. The adverse conditions are creating havoc with our agriculture, which transfers into higher prices for our food. It is symbolic of the insanity of this greed driven capitalist system, that as food prices are rising across the planet, and people can't afford the food the help to grow, or serve in restaurants, governments across the world are dismantling social services.

     One problem that we don't hear much about is the drought in California. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 67% of the state of California is classified as “extreme”, a further 9% is “exceptional”, this means wells running dry, no where for cattle to graze, forcing farmers to sell off their livestock, creating a shortage of dairy produce, glut of meat and then a shortage meat. Some scientists claim that 2013/14 is the driest season for 434 years. California is the top agriculture producer in the U.S. And one of the largest in the world, producing beef, dairy produce, wine, and some of the largest fruit and vegetable crops.

      Why should we worry if California goes dry? Well America is a large, rich and powerful country, when it runs out of food, it starts to suck in more from an already suffering world, creating greater shortages and higher prices. Europe is not exempt from the effects of climate change, scientist state that in southern Europe, from southern France through Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and to the Balkans, stream and river minimum flow could fall by as much as 40% and in periods of drought that could increase to 80%. This of course would result in food shortages in this area, being exacerbated by the the mighty dollar sucking in food from this and other areas.

      It is also very obvious that if we continue to let “market forces” sort things out, a group of rich people will make a killing from the food crisis, the rich will feed very well indeed, as they usually do, and the poor will go hungry and increase in numbers. Tackling climate change is only one part of the solution, but is to little avail if we don't sort out the system of distribution of the world's food. At the present the food is there to see to our needs, the problem is who owns it, and who decides its distribution method. The “market” is no more than a euphemism for a “bunch of greedy rich bastards”, do we really want them to be in control of OUR survival? 

 

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

Glasgow Games Monitor.

Info from Glasgow Games Monitor 2014:

Hi all,

     Our next group meeting is on Monday 7rd April, 7-8.45pm, Unite the Union offices, John Smith House, 145/165 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4RZ. All welcome. 

Meeting Dates:

http://gamesmonitor2014.org/meetings/Contact: gamesmonitor2014@googlemail.com 

     Also, giving advance notice that we aim to follow up on the recently blocked HOUSING CRISIS meeting on Tuesday 22nd April. We have not yet confirmed the venue but will let you know when we have. We will also be doing a public walk/'territorial inquiry' on Saturday 29th April. 

    More details to follow soon, please add to your diaries and let others know.  Cheers,http://gamesmonitor2014.org/

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

Great Design!

       April, poem a day month, banish the politicians from the stage, let the bards speak for the people.

GREAT DESIGN?

Sad truths but little addressed

slow rises potential by poverty depressed

gracious living and good health

cruelly linked to personal wealth

self-esteem with youth's sweet flower

steeped in poverty soon turns sour

hopes and dreams in life's rich game

to the poor are distant, broken, lame,

masses trapped in living decay,

homeless, hungry, growing day by day,

midst wealth, so much human dereliction

makes a travesty of your god's benediction,

see minister, mullah, rabbi, priest,

indulging in some royal feast

kissing the hand that wears the crown

twittering with ladies in flowing gowns

then with sanctimonious solemn face

tell the poor, "accept your place"

preaching poverty as some great design

from a being all powerful and benign!

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

Future Suspended.

     Over half an hour long, but well worth seeing through to the end, an explanation of what is going on in Greece, but could, and probably will, come to the rest of Europe. Spain is well down that road already, can the rest of us be far behind?

Future Suspended:

    How does a global financial crisis permeate the spaces of the everyday in a city? Our final 35' documentary film traces the multiple transformations of crisis-ridden Athenian public space and those who traverse it.
     Future Suspended is divided in three sections. “Privatised” explores the legacy of mass privatisation projects that preceded the 2004 Olympics, placing them in the context of present day privatisation schemes. “Devalued” gazes at the ever-shrinking spaces of migrants in the city and the devaluation of their lives that comes as a result. “Militarised” shows how, in face of the crisis, this devaluation turns into a generalised condition.
   Through its cinematic traversal of today's Athens, "Future Suspended" traces the rise of the authoritarian-financial complex and how this shrinks public space in the city, fuelling social despair and anger in return.
     Future Suspended is part of the research project at crisis-scape.net. The research team consists of Christos Filippidis, Antonis Vradis, Dimitris Dalakoglou, Ross Domoney and Jaya Klara Brekke. All music for Future Suspended was composed by Giorgos Triantafyllou.
    This film is released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence. Details here:

creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en_GB

Future Suspended (english) from Ross Domoney on Vimeo.

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

The Troika's Answer To Unemployment - Pay Off More Workers.

       Across southern Europe unemployment is at life sapping heights, Greece and Spain above 24%, in both these countries unemployment among the young is at the 60% level, while unemployment in Portugal is 16% and Italy 13%, Italy's government debt is estimated by the IMF, (International Mankind Fuckers) to be 130% of GDP. The Spanish people have been on the streets this weekend displaying their anger and disgust, at the policies being dictated by the so called Troika, (EC, European Commission, ECB, European Central Bank, IMF, International Mankind Fuckers), which are causing widespread misery and poverty. The organisers of the protests have called them “marches of dignity”, one of the many things that the ordinary people are denied in this exploitative system. In Greece, the social fabric of society is in a severe state of collapse. The health service is now third world, the education system has collapsed, the massive increase in poverty and deprivation has been matched by an equally massive increase in substance abuse, suicides and physical and mental health problems. So with unemployment and poverty destroying the present and future generations, in that plunder land, Greece, what is the Troika's answer? Why more unemployment of course.

         The rich parasite bastards that make up the Troika, sitting in their marble halls of power in Brussels, have decreed that Greece has not done enough to to satisfy their masters in the financial Mafia. So they have insisted on the Greek government cutting a further 11,000 public sector workers. (Who dictates how many public sector workers here in the UK are to be paid off???) This despite the Greek economy having shrank by 6.4% last year. This is 2014, six years of bailouts, austerity, massive unemployment, and both government debt and deficit are still lost somewhere in the stratosphere, and the misery and deprivation is also up there and rising. Of course the rest of Europe is not immune to the destruction spewed out by the Troika, who are merely the European managers for the global financial mafia, no country in Europe is an isolated island, look at Souther Europe and you're looking at a picture of Northern Europe's future, sweatshop Europe, the Western corporate dream. The system doesn't work for the people, it can't be modified to something resembling fairness. It is a system of exploitation, where wealth is created by the people and ends up in the bank accounts of self-interested parasites, that's what it is designed to do and it does it with a ruthless efficiency. Only when we control the wealth that we create, and control its distribution, can we hope for a system that will see to the needs of all our people. We don't need them, they do need us. 

Visi8t ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Democracy Administered By A Baton.

       That illusion that is woven, that hall of smoke and mirrors, that thing called "representative democracy" that we are asked to believe in, is like a drifting crocodile, it seems benign, unobservant and harmless, until you disturb the waters, and then it lashes out and viciously attacks you. You can disturb the waters of this type of society by simply demanding change, seeking justice, or calling for an end to corruption. Wherever people take to the streets demanding justice, we see the brutal force of the state, the police are now "tooled up" like the military, and staffed by brutal thugs. The more the people want change the more this becomes apparent. Greece has seen some of the worst in Europe, of state violence against its own people. However, Greece is not unique, recent protests in Spain have seen the same vicious repression being unleashed against the Spanish people, who are demanding an end to the dire poverty that is being heaped on them by the financial mafia. European democracy is an ugly, violent beast, and will be come more so, as the austerity ideology is pushed to the limit, driving more and more people into poverty and deprivation.

How democracy looks in Spain, this from RoarMag:

 

       After a demonstration in Madrid on Saturday night, seven photographers were assaulted, beaten and injured by police as they tried to cover an arrest.

       Just yesterday I wrote a piece arguing that Spain, alongside a number of other countries that have experienced mass street protests in the past three years, is rapidly sliding into a new form of authoritarianism — an ostensibly “democratic” authoritarianism that hides behind a facade of free markets, fair elections and respect for the rule of law to secure the increasing concentration of wealth and power by shrinking the public space for democratic participation and popular dissent. In this brave neoliberal world, politics is giving way to policing.

       Just in case this argument required any further evidence, consider these images that emerged from Spain last night. It shows seven colleagues — all independent or professional photo- and video-journalists — being assaulted, beaten and injured by riot police for trying to cover a violent arrest at the end of yet another day of protests. The videos below speak for themselves:

Read the full article HERE:

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

Pan-European Anti-Fascist Movement.

        Where better to hold a pan-European anti-fascist gathering than in Greece. Since the financial Mafia's thugs, the Troika, (EC, European Commission, ECB, European Central Bank, IMF, International Mankind Fuckers) plunder the public assets of that country, throwing the people in to deprivation, fascism has come crawling out of its sewer and grown in strength. Golden Dawn now openly struts the streets of Greece, spewing its vile vomit of division and Nationalism. Whenever capitalism hits one of its inevitable and regular "crises", and poverty is heaped on the general public, fascist scum usually find that they get funding to grow. It is capitalism's safety valve, which helps to create division among the ordinary people, and prevent a mass revolt for real change. We end up fighting fascist groups rather than the system.

European Anti-fascist Meeting in Athens 11, 12 & 13 April 2014

FOR A EUROPE FREE OF FASCISM, RACISM AND SEXISM

IN A WORLD OF FREEDOM AND SOCIAL SOLIDARITY

 

This from Xpressed:

        Seventy years after World War II and the defeat of fascism, Europe is facing the challenge of a nazi, racist far-right on the rise. In times of economic crisis and of harsh attack against workers’ and peoples’ rights, especially the rights of southern European peoples, from France to Ukraine (with the nazis in power) and from Norway to Greece, xenophobic and intolerant parties and groups start having influence on the society, even on poor and excluded popular classes all over Europe. They have begun to play a part in formulating political developments and getting involved in societies, schools, the streets, working-class neighborhoods, as well as national parliaments and state devices, most of all the police.

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Whitechapel Anarchist Group.

      Circled "A" Radio gives two members of the Whitechapel Anarchist Group, Greg Hall and Gawain, an attempt to try to face their ghosts by looking at the reasoning behind the foul mouthed, angry and seditious collective in the past ten years. Threatened by the EDL, infiltrated by the daily mail and stalked by the met police. Tune in to hear the story of WAG.

Circled "A" Radio:

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

The State And Its Tool,-- Death.

       There seems to be disbelief at the Egypt court passing the mass death sentences on 528 protesters, with another mass trial of 682 due to start. To put that in perspective, that is more people sentenced to death in one fell swoop, than the total number of UK troops killed in Afghanistan in 13 years of war since 2001. We can accept that it is horrific, barbarous, outrageous, and makes a mockery of justice. However we should not be surprised, for that's what the states do best.

 They kill with impunity, they do it in several ways, they do it by sending ordinary people to foreign countries to kill other ordinary people, to enhance the state's wealth and power. They kill their own citizens by legislation, (ATOS), for example. Slow death by deliberate polices that increase poverty and deprivation, During WW1 the British state executed, (murdered), at dawn by firing squad, 306 young British soldiers, labeling them cowards. It's a state thing, killing citizens is just collateral damage in their role of power monger. The state always holds the death card to use in the event of any threat to its power, and when the state kills, it is supposed to put the stamp of legitimacy on that barbaric action. 528 death sentences, what state has not killed far more than that to hold onto and cement its power over the people?

 

This from AVAAZ:

    A kangaroo court in Egypt just sentenced 528 people to death. This is likely the biggest mass execution ruling this century, but one man can stop the killings.
      Egypt’s most important religious figure, Grand Mufti Allam has 10 days to reject the decision. Religious leaders are already condemning the ruling, and as the first Mufti to be elected by his peers, he has a legitimate mandate to be the nation’s moral leader. Let’s create a global plea from people of all religions to provide clemency and block this barbarous ruling.
      This was a political show trial -- the military regime is using the firing squad to wipe out the opposition. If the world does not speak up, the consequences for Egypt and the world are beyond dangerous. Sign now to save these lives and stop a spiral of violence -- when one million of us have joined, religious leaders in Egypt will deliver our call for compassion directly to the Mufti:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_mass_execution_loc/?bwqhjab&v=37959
      After the hope of Tahrir Square, where hundreds of thousands took to the streets to overthrow decades of dictatorship, the Egyptian people democratically elected a Muslim Brotherhood government. But last summer the military staged a populist coup, Brotherhood supporters rioted, and then the military declared the party a terrorist organisation and violently cracked down -- 16,000 democracy activists, journalists, and even teenage school girls have been arrested!
     The trial was a joke -- on top of charges of rioting and destruction of property, the 528 are all accused of killing one police officer, and defense lawyers were barred from the sentencing session, which lasted less than an hour! But this is not a one off -- the judiciary is repeatedly being used to crackdown on political dissent, while security forces accused of killing hundreds of protesters are rarely held to account. There are real security threats, but as the military authorities' iron fist and intimidation grows, extremism is fuelled.
      This is the harshest mass conviction in modern Egyptian history, but what happens next in this case could have repercussions way beyond Egypt. Sign the urgent petition now asking the Grand Mufti not to rubber stamp state-sponsored murder and to provide the ethical leadership Egypt desperately needs:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_mass_execution_loc/?bwqhjab&v=37959
      The world has kept silent as this regime has launched an all out attack against an imperfect but elected government and brought democracy in Egypt to its knees. Global leaders trumpet democracy at every opportunity and strongly condemn anti-democratic plots from Crimea to Caracas. But not in Egypt. Now if the world looks away and allows this cruel mass execution to happen, a dangerous message will resonate across the globe that the world will stand by democracy, except for political Islam. That wil l empower one small but very dangerous group that can hurt us all: the extremists.
     Time and again the Avaaz community has forcefully advocated against brutal injustice and for peaceful, meaningful reconciliation between embittered communities. Right now Egypt’s future hangs in the balance, and a wildly unjust and provocative ruling like the one handed down in Minya could push it over the edge. Let’s bring the people’s voice to this precarious situation and ensure that these 528 lives are saved

With hope,

Alice, Nick, Oli, Wissam, Bissan, Mais, Emily, Ari, Ricken and the whole Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION
Hundreds of Egyptians Sentenced to Death in Killing of a Police Officer (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/world/middleeast/529-egyptians-sentenced-to-death-in-killing-of-a-police-officer.html
Egypt Opens Another Mass Trial of Islamists (AP)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eg ypt-sentences-529-death-police-attack-23036881

‘Fast’ death penalty for 529 Brotherhood supporters will be appealed: Defence (Ahram)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/97456/Egypt/Politics-/Fast-and-bizarre-death-penalty-for--Brotherhood-su.aspx
Egyptian court sentences 529 people to death (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/egypt-sentences-529-to-death/2014/03/24/a4f95692-6992-461e-aaf1-9bc84908a429_story.html< /span>

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

Education Or Propaganda.

       The present education system is a subject that needs a radical re-think, or perhaps dismantling. The state system is now more a system of preparing kids to be cogs in the corporate machine, than a means of helping the kids to be real freethinking people. The ConDem millionaire cabal are pushing ahead with their "free schools" which are mainly institutions controlled by holy-joes and self centred "entrepreneurial" types, whose aim is to produce obedient clones of themselves. There is a history of "real free schools" where kids are allowed and encouraged to develop rather than be shaped to the needs of the business world, in this country, probably the best know would be Summerhill. Glasgow had its own free school in the 70's in one of the most deprived areas in Glasgow, The Barrowfield Free School. Also there were the Socialist Sunday Schools where kids from working class districts were introduced to socialist principles of mutual aid and co-operation. Then of course there is home educating.

This from Circled "A" Radio:

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

Madrid, March, 22,2014.

        Where else but in Spain would you see so many black and red flags, black flags and banners proudly displaying the large circled "A"? It does your heart good to know that this isn't history, this is here and now, this is Madrid, March, 22, 2014. Salud, in solidarity.

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