Just Thinkin'.

       Looking around we can see lots of campaigns, all highlighting failings in the economic system we live under. There are those who point to the injustice of workfare, the bedroom tax, disability assessment process,, the viciousness of “sanctions”, winter deaths from fuel poverty, the ever increasing need for food banks, homelessness, the lack of care in the community for the elderly and the sick, mentally and physically, low wages, zero hour contracts. Then we move on to MP's fiddling, cronyism in high places, massive bonuses to the corporate bosses, the ever widening gap between rich and poor, and this list only scratches the surface. 

      Surely a system with this volume of flaws and injustices, can honestly be assessed as, not fit for purpose. Wouldn't it be better if all those sincere and dedicated campaigners, accepted that it is not their particular issue that is the problem, it is the economic system that is inherently flawed, and it is to that problem we must direct our energies. Capitalism is a beast of exploitation, it can't be other than that, that's how it works, the primary object of any “business” is to make money for its owners, not to serve the public. If it doesn't make money for its owners, then screw the public, it will shut down, no matter the need of that public. We have to get away from the sticking plaster mentality when we are dealing with a terminal cancer. Capitalism has to be put to rest, deposited in the dustbin of history, it has passed the point of being a bit unfair, it is now destroying the planet, and forcing civilisation to extinction. Its continual drive for growth in a world of finite resources, is a recipe for disaster, there are no redeeming factors in capitalism. It spawns wars, increases poverty, widens the gap between rich and poor, its basic principles are greed and exploitation.

       I personally don't think we have that much time to avert a world wide catastrophe, as our insane system drives ever increasing climatic changes, rapes and plunders the earth of all its finite resources, and all in the name of profit for the few. We know we can organise our lives in a more sane and just manner, we know we can manage the earth's resources in a manner that will preserve them and serve all. We have had hundreds of years of an ever failing system that has never delivered what its proponents claimed it would. Let's focus on bring this system down, not trying to patch its festering last days. Let's focus on creating that better world based on the co-operation and will of the ordinary people, a system based on justice, sanity and fairness, one that attempts to live in harmony with the ecosystem that supports us, not destroy it, for the benefit of the few. We have to spread the anarchist dream and work towards making it a reality, the alternative is a profit driven, rapid descent into extinction. 

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

AK Press Up Date.

      An up date from AK Press, looks quite horrendous, apparently two people died in an adjoining building. Loss of stock and trading is one thing but loss of life is something else.

From AK Press:

     AK Press is currently dealing with the aftermath of a major fire. You are in the right place if you want to help. 

A lot of people have been asking what is the best way to help us recover. We still aren't sure the exact amount of stock that is ruined, or how long we will be unable to enter our warehouse building. But we do know that we've lost a lot, and that we're effectively shut down for business so we're not able to sustain ourselves without your help.

If you are able to make a financial contribution to our Fire Relief Fund, please do so. We'll see that any donated funds are divided up between AK Press, our neighbors at 1984 Printing, and building residents who have lost their homes and belongings.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Greece, December 2008.

       Let's Disappear, is a summary/critique of the events in Greece around December 2008, by the Invisible Committee, and is certainly worth a read. I was in Athens on that December 2008, and was filled with a strange array of mixed emotions, there was apprehension and exhilaration, I was awestruck by the shear volume of anger and camaraderie, of united people on the streets, a feeling that I have never forgotten to this day. I sometimes wonder if I will ever find myself in a similar situation that will re-kindle those powerful emotions, that feeling that something wonderful and new was about to happen. Of course it hasn't--- well not yet.

Let's Disappear:

    Anyone who lived through the days of December, 2008 in Athens knows what the word “insurrection” signifies in a Western metropolis. The banks were in pieces, the police stations under siege, the city in the hands of the assailants. In the luxury shops, they were no longer repairing the windows, which would need to be done every morning. Nothing that embodied the police reign of normality was untouched by this wave of fire and stones whose bearers were everywhere and representatives nowhere—even the Syntagma Christmas tree was torched. At a certain point the forces of order withdrew, after running out of tear-gas grenades. Impossible to say who took over the streets then. They say it was the “600 euros generation,” the “high schoolers,” the “anarchists,” the “riffraff” from the Albanian immigration, they’ll say anything.As usual, the press blamed the “koukoulofori,” the “hooded ones.” The truth is that the anarchists were overrun by this faceless outpouring of rage. Their monopoly on wild, masked action, inspired tags, and even Molotov cocktails had been taken from them unceremoniously. The general uprising they no longer dared to imagine was there, but it didn’t resemble the idea of it they had in their minds. An unknown entity, an egregore, had been born, a spirit that wouldn’t be appeased till everything was reduced to cinders that deserved to be. Time was on fire. The present was fractured as payment for all the future that had been stolen from us.
    The years that followed in Greece taught us the meaning of the word “counter-insurgency” in a Western country. Once the wave had passed, the hundreds of groups that had formed in the country, down to the smallest villages, tried to stay faithful to the breach which the month of December had opened.
     At one spot, people might empty the cash registers of a super-market, then film themselves burning the loot. At another, an embassy might be attacked in broad daylight in solidarity with some friend hounded by the police in his or her country. Some resolved, as in Italy of the 1970’s, to carry the attack to a higher level and target, using bombs or firearms, the Athens stock exchange, cops, ministries or perhaps the Microsoft headquarters. As in the 1970’s, the left passed new “antiterrorist” laws. The raids, arrests, and trials multiplied. For a time, one was reduced to militating against “repression.” The European Union, the World Bank, the IMF, in agreement with the Socialist government, undertook to make Greece pay for the unpardonable revolt. One should never underestimate the resentment of the wealthy towards the insolence of the poor. They decided to bring the whole country to heel through a string of “economic measures” more or less as violent, although spread over time, as the revolt.

Read the full article HERE

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

AK Press Destroyed.

    Fire seems to have destroyed AK Press in Oakland, here is an appeal from them for help. Please support if you can and spread this around.

 Dear Friends,

        In the early morning of March 21, the building behind ours caught fire. Two people lost their lives. The fire spread to the mixed-use warehouse building we share with 1984 Printing and 30+ residents. Everyone in our building got out safely, but several units were completely destroyed. There was extensive water and smoke damage to other units, including the ones occupied by AK Press and our neighbors at 1984 Printing.
      Yesterday, we got more bad news when the City of Oakland red-tagged our building, which prohibits us from occupying it. We don't know how long this will last, but it obviously means we can't conduct business as usual. We are hopeful that we can recover from this tragedy but we will need your help to get through it, and to support our neighbors who have also suffered major losses.
       If you can, please consider a donation to our Fire Relief Fund. If you're not in the position to donate, please help us by sharing the campaign. We will split all contributions to this fund with 1984 Printing and our neighbors affected by the fire, and we will all be very grateful for whatever you can give.
      We'll keep you all posted as we struggle through this awful mess. Thank you all, so much, for your support thus far—we can't tell you how much it means.

—The AK Press Collective  Make a Donation

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

Solidarity Is Our Weapon.

      For those wishing to keep up to date on the Greek prison hunger strikes, there is a new site launched. These comrades deserve all the support we can muster.

HUNGER STRIKE:

“Comrades, the political prisoners are already on the 10th day of the hunger strike. It is very positive that the assembly supports all demands of the political prisoners despite the differences in the demanding frame, in order for no one to be left alone against state oppression. You are definitely already discussing solidarity acts that will take place in the immediate future. I know that one of these acts is a demonstration in the centre of Athens. In my opinion, concerning this proposal, this demonstration should not exclusively have the characteristics of solidarity to the political prisoners on hunger strike, but must be connected and place the matter of the revolutionary prospect, the matter of revolution. Because social revolution and solidarity to the political prisoners are linked and directly connected…”

More info HERE:

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

Industrial Diseases.

      It always amazes me why we tolerate a system where the majority do all the hard graft, and run all the dangers of the job, but hand the bulk of the wealth they create to the few, who do nothing and face none of the occupational hazards. There is always occupational dangers lurking in most jobs, and most could be eliminated but because of the system they are not, as that would cut into the profits for that greed driven few.

      This is a post I wrote away back in 2013 for another blog, but thought it worth repeating here on ann arky's blog.

INDUSTRIAL DISEASES.
       We have come through the start of the industrial age and moved on to the hi-tec age, but every move into every industry comes with its on particular problems. Practically every industry is linked to an industrial disease. We have silicosis, lung disease prevalent among stone masons, potters grinders etc.. Then there is pneumoconiosis, mainly among coal miners, caused by breathing in fine coal dust and carbon dust. Arc-welders are at risk of manganism, manganese poisoning brought on by exposure to the toxic effects of the fumes from welding rods melting as the are used. Painters are at risk from neurological deficits from solvent‐exposure, which include impaired colour vision, cognitive defects, tremor and loss of vibration sensation. There are many more links with occupation and disease, but we are seldom told of these dangers when you apply for the job. Health and safety regulations go some way to protect workers from these dangers but usually these measures are re-active and only come after years of suffering and campaigning.

      As a young man starting my trade in the Clydeside shipyards in the 1950’s, I was ignorant of the dangers of asbestos, and as it was widely used, all of us were exposed to the horror of death from mesothelioma, an asbestos induced incurable cancer. It was not that the dangers of this substance wasn’t known, medical papers had been written about the danger from asbestos exposure as far back as the 30’s, but it continued to be used up to and including the 60’s. The employers didn’t abandon asbestos willingly, it took campaigning and legislation to finally attempt to get rid of this killer substance. That is the pattern in most of industries, its dangers are only restricted by campaigning and legislation. The profit motive drives industry, not the well being of the employee. Most industries can be made safe, but it usually requires investment in safety equipment and training and that costs money which in turn cuts into the profit. So safety in industries will always come lower down the ladder, and as times get harder, corners are cut in safety to prevent cuts in profit. The economic system we have at present does not lend itself to the welfare and well being of the workers, only when the workers control all the industries will their well being be at the fore front of production.

WHEN  THE TIME-BOMB GOES OFF.

The bike just sits there,

dust covering its lovely sheen,

puffing up the Fintry Hills

well, it’s no longer my scene.

Y’see, as a Clydeside apprentice

I proudly learnt the tradesman’s skill,

little did I know then

the price, asbestos lungs that kill.

Now I just sit here through the painful day

gasping each mouthful of air, wondering

how can I make the bastards pay.

They new it was a killer

a time-bomb in our lungs

but, because it was so quick and cheap

they firmly held their tongues.

So what, if it cost the workman’s life,

there’s always a couple of new workers

in the care of the worker’s wife.

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

Solidarity Knows No Borders.

      Syriza still playing the financial game and trying for modifications in the financial Mafia's master plan. Still waving the left wing flag, but still ignoring all the political prisoners in Greece hell-holes called prisons. Principled people are putting their lives on the line, in the name of freedom, but still the "party of the people" ignores their cry for justice. However they are not forgotten by their comrades on the outside who continue to show solidarity.

      The latest update on the hunger strikers incarcerated in the Greece's draconian dungeons of despair, from Contra Info:

        Till this day, March 23rd 2015, dozens of political prisoners have gone on hunger strike (most of them since March 2nd), demanding that the following be abolished: the special “anti-terrorist” legislation, and particularly articles 187A (terrorist organisation) and 187 (criminal organisation); the special repressive law (hoodie law); and the type C prisons, which are completing the state of exception for political prisoners. They also demand that the use and processing of DNA as means of evidence be limited; and that Savvas Xiros (who, despite having a 98% disability, is being systematically exterminated by the State for 13 years now), as well as the relatives of Conspiracy of Cells of Fire members be immediately released from prison.

      We, a group of solidarian comrades from the anarchist milieu who support the demands of the hunger strikers, have occupied the ‘105.5 FM Sto Kokkino’ radio station in Athens. We chose to occupy this specific station for obvious reasons: it is the radio outlet of the establishment and currently also of the government, or plainly the speaking trumpet of the SYRIZA-Independent Greeks coalition.

The ‘105.5 FM Sto Kokkino’ radio station, same as the vast majority of media scum, distorts both the overall context of the struggle waged by the hunger strikers and the actions in solidarity with them. This occupation is an action stemming from the broader movement of solidarity with the prisoners, who are giving a fight that concerns us all.

      We of the occupation in ‘105.5 FM Sto Kokkino’ are taking this means into our own hands and making counter-information a weapon! This action is part of the wider polymorphous movement of solidarity with the political prisoners on hunger strike.

Victory to the struggle of the hunger strikers!
Until every prison is torn down!

‘105.5 FM Sto Kokkino’ Occupation

Greek original: Athens IMC (March 23rd 2015)

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

A Poem Is Not Enough.

      If only to write a poem would be enough. A note from The Invisible Committee:

We would have liked to be brief. To forgo genealogies, etymologies, quotations.
That a poem, a song, would suffice.
We wished it would be enough to write “revolution” on a wall for the street to catch fire.
But it was necessary to untangle the skein of the present, and in places to settle accounts with ancient falsehoods.
It was necessary to try and digest seven years of historical convulsions. And decipher a world in which confusion has blossomed on a tree of misunderstanding.  
We’ve taken the time to write with the hope that others would take the time to read.
Writing is a vanity, unless it’s for the friend. Including the friend one doesn’t know yet.
In the coming years, we’ll be wherever the fires are lit.
During the periods of respite, we’re not that hard to find.
We’ll continue the effort of clarification we’ve begun here.
There will be dates and places where we can mass our forces against logical targets.
There will be dates and places for meeting up and debating.
We don’t know if the insurrection will have the look of a heroic assault, or if it will be a planetary fit of crying, a sudden expression of feeling after decades of anesthesia, misery, and stupidity.
Nothing guarantees that the fascist option won’t be preferred to revolution.
We’ll do what there is to be done.
Thinking, attacking, building – such is our fabulous agenda.
This text is the beginning of a plan.

See you soon,

                                                       invisible committee

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

Prisons Don't Equate With Civilisation.

     So Greece has Syriza, a supposed party of the people, but the state apparatus under their control, still treats political prisoners in an inhumane manner. Nothing has changed in the manner of treatment of those who are in prison for their desire to destroy the capitalist system and replace it with a system of justice for all. Prison conditions in Greece are among the worst in Europe, and the prison hospital is not a hospital, but a dumping hole for sick prisoners. Due to unjust laws and draconian conditions, hunger strikes in Greek prisons are an ongoing affair. 

      This latest update from Contra Info, on Dimitris Koufontinas, who has been on hunger strike since March 2nd.

       Since yesterday morning, March 21st, hunger striker Dimitris Koufontinas (convicted 17N member) has been transferred from the type C maximum security prison of Domokos to the provincial hospital in Lamia, where he’s being held in a room-cell with no window. In addition to the miserable conditions, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for supporters to communicate with any prisoner who may find themselves moved to this hospital.

      Can any society that treats people in this inhumane fashion be called civilised? States may raise the flag of democrat, left of centre, social democrat, liberal or whatever, and all claim to be for the people, but they all retain and expand their prison system, and it is there for the one specific purpose, to protect their power and privileges.

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

From Athens To Frankfurt, We Are Pissed-Off.

      No, not Athens, this is Frankfurt in European capitalist success story, Germany. No matter the state of "the economy" from powerhouse of Europe or failing economies of Greece, Italy, Spain, or wherever, the formula is the same, austerity for the people and riches for the parasites. And the people of Germany are just as pissed off by the misery of austerity as the rest of us. Capitalist success does not translate into riches for the ordinary people. Across the continent, austerity is driving down living standards, irrespective of Osborne's "Walking Tall" crap. It is not likely to change because the powers that be decide to spread the wealth a little bit more evenly. Our standard of living will only reach its full potential when we finally get rid of the capitalist system, and the insanity of kneeling before the Gods of profit and market forces. 

This from Rabble:

     On Wednesday (18 March) a rabble some 20,000 strong crashed the opening party of the new European Central Bank (ECB) building in Frankfurt. The area around the building, which was hosting a celebratory shindig of politicians and other creeps, was sealed off with steel and razor wire barriers and several thousand of Germany’s riot police. But the crowd managed to give them a run for their money with burning barricades, smashed banks, torched police cars, and much rebel spirit.
     On the downside, up to 400 people were reported arrested by the end of the day.
      This was the biggest “counter-summit” demo seen in Europe for some years. There have been similar “Blockupy” events against the ECB the last two years, but they were more easily controlled, with fewer people, less confrontation and little damage.
This year call-outs for the day came from two different groupings: not only the more mainstream “Blockupy”, but also the more confrontational “Destroika“.
     We haven’t yet seen a first hand report in English to repost. Until then, here are some pictures: 

 More Photos HERE:

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

The Crooks And Liars Competition.

      The election is creeping up on us, whether we like it or not. Can you feel the excitement? Or like me, is it nausea that you feel. I tend to refer to party political elections as the crooks and liars competition. A period when certain types of crooks and liars, get into a heightened state of frenzy. Each determined to out do all other crooks and liars, for the prize of entering The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. A chance to grab all the fiddles and privileges that go with the trophy of MP.

       They will prance about the country spewing out platitudes, promise and puerile bullshit. Each will try to surpass the others mythical claims of how they can create a paradise on earth, no lie is too big, no subterfuge too vulgar. There will be wheeling and dealing behind closed doors, there will be duplicity, there will be babies being kissed, and hands shaken, all phoney, all for effect. A special band of charlatans, masters of weaving and ducking, abusers of the English language, they will drink from any sewer, indulge in any back-stabbing, for that glittering prize, that badge of hypocrisy, MP, (Master Parasite). It will set them up for life, float them in a world of closed doors, and slush funds, a fat pension for life, all at our expense.

This from The Press Association:

     The Tory candidate in a key general election marginal has been suspended after allegedly hatching a plot with far-right extremists to win votes by stirring up racial hatred.
     Afzal Amin is accused of scheming with the English Defence League (EDL) to announce an inflammatory march against a new 'mega-mosque' in the seat of Dudley North.
     But, according to the Mail on Sunday, the idea was for the protest to be scrapped with Mr Amin taking the credit for defusing the situation.
    In return he allegedly promised that he would be an "unshakeable ally" for the EDL in parliament and help bring their views to the mainstream.

Read the full article HERE:

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

 

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.

       March 21st. World Poetry Day. So write a poem, read a poem, recite a poem, talk about a poem, give a poem. Poetry can say so much, it can inspire, comfort, ridicule, bring people together, it is a bridge between the song and the conversation, a wonderful means of self expression. It's free.

     From the labyrinth of my old distorted mind:

I’m Proud

I’m proud of my people, proud to be one of them,

that great mass on society’s bottom rung.

Those who, with coal-dust under their nails

in their eyes, in their lungs

claw at the earth's entrails.

Their brothers,

cement in their hair

in their mouth, in their ears,

oil ingrained in their fingers,

on their face.

Sisters, glistening with sweat

midst the ceaseless noise of machines

that throw out shirts, shoes, toys, carpets

for other people.

Those with soil and sweat stuck to their skin

smelling of the earth, feeding the multitude,

grinding out their lives in a harsh pitiless system

weighted down

with a sack load of half-dead dreams,

sometimes brought to their knees

by a tidal wave of despair,

never defeated,

groping in the dark to find tomorrow,

keeping hope alive;

they amaze me.

Somehow, from somewhere

in this cold, cruel

unforgiving scheme of things

they find love for their children.

Not a teaspoonful, not a cupful,

but buckets full, to bathe them in,

to pour over them.

They seem to know

that one day this world will be ours

and to take care of it

we will need those who have been loved.

And from a master, a poem I have loved for most of my adult life.

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

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

An Anaesthetic? That'll Be Extra!!

       Further to Osborne's "Walking Tall" claim, he and his partner in crime, Cameron, are helping their millionaire cronies to walk even taller, by handing them the biggest slice of the NHS yet to be privatised. They are working hard to get it all sliced and diced up in manageable portions for their band of robbers, before the next election. Do you want a private health care system, where you get what you can afford? If not, then we have to do something about this ruthless band of plunders, and do it quick. Would you like an anaesthetic with your operation? That'll be extra then.

An appeal from The Sum Of Us:

Thanks,

Hanna, Martin and the rest of us 

Friends, 

    David Cameron just sold off a massive chunk of our NHS, in the largest healthcare privatisation deal in UK history. The contract hands over a whopping £780 million to private firms with shoddy care records -- it’s over 50% larger than the next biggest healthcare sell-off.

Three of the for-profit companies have track records of poor care, yet still ended up with fresh NHS contracts to pad their bottom line. We’ve seen what happens if we privatise our health services: we get worse care at a higher cost. The sheer size of the deal means it’s virtually irreversible once it goes through.

      Let's make sure the government doesn't get away with this. Sign the petition here: http://action.sumofus.org/a/nhs-privatisation/?sub=taf

Thank you,

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