At around 10am, four heavily armored black SWAT trucks turned heads as they rolled down Vallecito Place in Highland. Deterred by the barricades that had been built in front of the StayAway over the previous month of eviction defense, the camo-clad SWAT team packing AR-15s went up 28th street and entered an adjoining property. This maneuver appears to have been pre-planned, as the neighbor said that while the Sheriff did not gain her consent to pass through her yard, she was addressed by name upon stepping outside. Entering through the backyard with no warning, StayAway residents confronted by this paramilitary squad were forced at gunpoint to abandon their possessions and leave their home with nothing but the clothes on their bodies. Two comrades were arrested and at the time of this writing their charges are unknown, although we know they were taken to Santa Rita County Jail. Those who witnessed the arrests say that one of the arrested comrades was beaten by officers. Those unfortunate enough to be barefoot at the time were not even permitted to get their shoes, and no one was able to get food for the three dogs who had not yet eaten. The entire block was closed to all traffic for over two hours. The StayAway collective and supporters rallied to challenge the fascist sheriff department, confront the owner, and demand a return of stolen possessions.
Read the full letter HERE:
Dear Mr. Salmond,
We are writing this open public letter to you because a solution has still not been found to what you have described, in a letter to City Council leader Gordon Matheson, as our “legitimate concerns” over the closure of The Accord day centre in Dalmarnock for people with severe learning disabilities. In the letter, you said you were “very concerned” about the closure of the centre, stressing that “no group should feel dispossessed” as a result of the Commonwealth Games. Previously, when you visited the users and carers at the Accord centre in May 2011, you emphasised the fact that the Scottish Government – “all of us […] every taxpayer in Scotland” – is paying 80% of the costs of the Games and you therefore have a “locus” on the issue. You also said that people in Scotland should have a “good feeling” about the Games. We assure you that we do not have a ‘good feeling’ about the Games at present.
From arrezafe. Translated from English to Spanish, to English.POLICE : Put your hands behind your back, Kevin, you're under arrest.Put your hands behind your back.I'm taking you to jail. Ok?First, ok, listen to ...Ah, ah, ah ... no tears.You have the right to remain silent.Anything you say may be used against you in court.You have the right to counsel during interrogation be,if you can not repay you the court will assign a public defender.Do you understand? Say yes or no.CHILD : ... yes ....POLICE : I understand. Right.Now I sit in the back seat and if you keep crying and you misbehave ...
Hello friends
Well done lovely people of Edinburgh and beyond, you did an amazing job! Over 800 anti-fascists from across Scotland joined a UAF march to oppose 80 members of the racist Scottish Defence League in Edinburgh on Saturday 17th August. The racist SDL march was supposed to be their big event in Scotland, a two finger insult to the largest and most diverse multi-cultural festival in Scotland. However, on the day the racist SDL had to bus in their pals from the Sunderland Div of the EDL and the North West Infidels to make up the numbers. As the racist SDL trailed past City of Edinburgh Council offices, supporters openly gave Nazi salutes-please see photos on our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/EdinburghUAF/photos_stream
Green Councillor Maggie Chapman commented ‘Edinburgh is a wonderful, welcoming and diverse city. I’m glad we were there to stand up against the hatred and bigotry of those claiming to speak for Scotland. I think it speaks clearly that their demo was fronted by the EDL Sunderland Division. Clearly the SDL does not have the support in Scotland that it would believe it has.’
Thanks to all who came and helped build the demo on the day, thanks to the Festival visitors and performers who joined us on the march. A truly international crowd joined our march as it passed down to the Scottish Parliament to stand united against the racist SDL and EDL.
Trade unions including EIS, UCU, PCS, UNISON, RMT and Unite the Union encouraged union reps and members to mobilise their union branches, their workmates and community campaigns to attend the march.
Larry Flanagan, Gen Sec of Scotland’s largest teaching union, EIS had encouraged union members to attend the march, ‘EIS resolutely opposes racism in all its forms. As a profession, teachers engage with young minds to develop a shared commitment to values such as fairness and equality, self-respect and respect for others. Racist ideologies such as those pedalled by the SDL and EDL are an assault on those values and need to be challenged through events such as the counter demonstration planned for this Saturday.’
Edinburgh College Students Association and other Student Associations supported the march too. UAF speakers emphasised the need to mobilize large numbers of people from our trade unions, community and faith organisations to oppose racist and fascist groups whenever they try to take to the streets. We showed the racist SDL that we are the many and they the few. We showed that they are not welcome on our streets, our city or our Festival!
You Tube video of the UAF march can be viewed on the following link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GyzaNRWwQtE
Detailed coverage of the UAF Edinburgh march can be found on Facebook: Edinburgh Against The Racist SDL.
SDL intend to demonstrate in Dundee The racist SDL have said their next demonstration will be in Dundee in late September, early October. When we get further information we will let you know. Let’s make sure we give them the same unwelcoming reception when they
come to Dundee.
Thanks
UAF Edinburgh
Facebook: EdinburghUAF
Email: uafedinburgh@riseup.net
Twitter: @UAFScot
Please come and join us at our monthly picket of the ATOS testing centre at Cadogan Street Friday, August 30, 12:30 to 14:30, and support our fight against the cuts to the sick and disabled, we want the so called Health Care Professionals to know we wont be going away until ATOS is removed from its role as DWP medical assessors.
This IT company has found thousands of people fit for work who have subsequently died within weeks of assessment, plunged thousands of sick and disabled people into poverty, everyone knows a friend or has family member who has a debilitating illlness or disability that leaves them unable to work, ATOS KILLS ! KILL ATOS !
"-----In order to accommodate all the homeless people who will now be banned from downtown, the city will partner with a local charity to keep an emergency shelter on the outskirts of town open 24 hours a day. However, it’s unlikely the shelter, which can handle 240 guests, will be enough to handle the local homeless population, which numbers more than six times the available beds.Read the full article HERE:
Homeless people can stay at the shelter, but they’re not permitted to walk off the premises. In fact, Columbia will even post a police officer on the road leading to the shelter to ensure that homeless people don’t walk towards downtown. If they want to leave, they need to set up an appointment and be shuttled by a van.
In other words, the 1,518 homeless people in the Columbia-area now have a choice: get arrested downtown or be confined to a far-away shelter that you can’t readily leave. Jail or pseudo-jail.-----"
I can’t understand what has happened to Kim
There’s been such a terrible change
When I think of how that girl acted before
I can’t understand such a changeA beautiful hand with the pastry she had
Her sponge cakes were lovely and light
But, now it’s all muesli, and yoghurt, and nuts
While she’s out at meetings at nightWe could have gone on, for the rest of our lives
Never knowing, just what she was like
And she’d have been trapped in our image of her
If it hadn’t have been for the strike.
In the night of August 13th, a ticker inspector inside a moving trolley bus pressured a 19-year-old to hand over his identity card and pay a fine for not having a ticket, threatening to take him to the nearest police station should he not comply with his authority. After some moments, the bus driver intervened in the argument in favor of the inspector. The passenger resisted the bullying, and there was a scuffle. Then suddenly, the bus door was opened and the young man either jumped off, or (more likely) was shoved out of the vehicle. He was fatally injured from the fall on a sidewalk. Despite the teen’s body lying on the ground covered in blood, the ticket collector went on threatening other passengers who were furious at what just happened, and he even demanded a woman be arrested by the cops.What happened later:
Losing your home thanks to ‘house improvements’
Posted on August 18, 2013 by plattenbauglasgow
Multi-national corporates buying swathes of late 19th century flats and ‘modernising’ them by installing air conditioning, triple glazing and lifts. The consequence is that current tenants can no longer afford rents which often double as a consequence of ‘luxury refurbishments’. The anti-gentrification German campaign “We Are All Staying” recently reported about yet another case in Berlin’s ‘trendy’ Prenzlauer Berg district and is building a direct action coalition to stop ‘modernisation’ and evictions. The Council, always great on promising rent caps, is doing nothing.
Who has similar experiences in Glasgow? Are there particular companies involved in the destruction of affordable homes? Who benefits from the profits? Can we name and shame them? We’d like to hear your stories and your thoughts about gentrification and displacement and what can be done to halt it.
