Handouts.

         

            

           Well we all have heard it, the Government's Autumn Statement, and what becomes very clear is that your tax payments are being handed out to big businesses, in the Tories words to boost growth. Throwing your money at their cronies in the big corporate world will certainly boost growth, but mainly in profit growth for shareholders and CEO. What have they promised the ordinary person, well if you are out of work because of illness, then you can look forward to having your benefits stopped if you are deemed not to looking hard enough for work. No doubt you will notice the different tone when they speak about the ordinary people and their cronies in big business. 

Image courtesy of Oklahoma Observer

          Another hand out to the mega rich big business came in earlier when Rushi Sunak was Chancellor, that was the tax cut to big banks, cutting bank profit surcharge from a meagre 8% down to miserly 3%. Once again handouts to their rich and powerful cronies. According to a TUC report this little slight of hand is costing you and I in lost tax revenue approximately £29 million a week. Think what that £29 million a week could have done had it gone in to NHS and other social services. Instead it has gone to purchasing more private jets, larger super yachts big cars and extra homes abroad for the already over rich parasite class.
          When will we ever learn that this capitalist system is stacked against the ordinary people. A system that is built on exploitation and amassing unbelievable fortunes from that exploitation can never be fair and just. If you want that better world for all, a fair and just society that sees to the needs of all our people, then we have to destroy the structure that manages this state/corporate marriage that is hell bent on plundering for profit.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Free the 3.

 

        Glasgow Sheriff Court today saw a strong support outside of the Court to support the three peace activists, who occupied Thales' weapons factory in Scotland in 2022 in an attempt to stop the slaughter of innocents, and now find themselves in Court. We must continue to turn up to show our support for those who fall foul of the state in their attempts to end wars. It is a strange democracy that those who fight for peace and an end to the manufacture of brutal instruments of war, find themselves in Court. Further proof that the state is a war machine that will throw its full resources into the manufacture of weapons of destruction and he resulting wars, while most of the citizens live an existence of struggle for a decent life. Glasgow must show solidarity and support for all peace activists, today and tomorrow and no matter how long it takes.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Gaza.

 

Image courtesy of Amnesty International.

        Some headlines from Information Clearing House, I know some people don't like IFC, so make of them what you will, but read them, and see if it changes your mind on the genocide being carried out by Israel on Gaza.

Israeli Genocide in Gaza Crosses 12,000, 5,000 Of Them Children

Israeli air strike on UN-school kills 'at least 50' on devastating day of attacks

Families dig out loved ones by hand in Gaza as thousands remain under rubble

'Pregnant women in Gaza forced to opt C-section in torchlight without anesthesia'

At least 30,000 wounded in the Strip, 202 medical staff killed

Dozens killed in latest Israeli bombing of Gaza Mosque: Israeli planes targeted the Mosque as worshippers gathered for a congressional prayer.

Most of Israel’s weapons imports come from the US. Now genocide Joe is rushing even more arms: What the US sending Israel weapons “at the speed of war” looks like.

Hamas Didn’t Attack Israelis Because They Are Jewish
‘A lot of discontent’: Netanyahu alone as Israel turns on wartime PM

Five nations request war crime probe over situation in Palestinian territories

Ramzy Baroud: History tells us why Israel will not defeat Gaza

UN Security Council adopts resolution for ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza

Israel Rejects UN Call for ‘Extended Humanitarian Pauses’ for Gaza

UN says Israel’s limited aid is not enough

HRW: Communications blackouts like in Gaza could be 'cover for atrocities'

No Gaza cease-fire: Israel’s US ambassador says ground campaign will take ‘weeks’

‘Killing babies won’t bring our babies back’: Relatives of the victims of Hamas’s attack are among those arguing against revenge on Gaza.

Israeli ministers outraged over 'limited' fuel set to enter Gaza

Iraqi resistance hits multiple US bases in Iraq, Syria: The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced on 17 November its forces attacked three US bases in Syria and Iraq.

Syrian air defenses repel latest Israeli attack on Damascus

Anti-Israel rhetoric in Jordan intensifies as kingdom braces for chaos

Jordan scraps energy deal with Israel: Amman says long-standing ties with Tel Aviv cannot move forward while the Israeli army 'continues to kill children in Gaza'

Sorry, Biden: Ireland’s Sinn Féin embraces Palestinians and shuns Israel : “The world sees Israeli actions for what they are — barbaric, hateful, cowardly war crimes,” McDonald told the crowd.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Pope Fred.

 

We should always remember our own.

From slackbastard
October 5, 2023

        

            I recently learned that a local (Naarm) anarchist called ‘Pope Fred’ has died. I’ve no doubt others will have reflections, but to mark his passing from this realm to the next, it seemed appropriate to make a blogpost.    

           Assuming the mantle of a Pope was Fred’s tribute to organised religion, and he further distinguished himself by way of his distinctly un-gaudy, proletarian uniform of white overalls, often accompanied by a black balaclava when performing poetry or weaving a magickal spell. Fred had strong opinions, especially about anarchism. When not being delivered in person or on stage, these were often expressed in short, poetik pamphlets, of which he produced many over the decades. I remember him being especially delighted upon discovering that ‘Oppositional defiant disorder’ (ODD) had been diagnosed as an illness by other men-in-white-lab-coats, ODD becoming one of many signals the universe sent him in order to better prompt his subversive imagination. Despite having a sometimes prickly disposition, I always found Fred to be at heart a friendly indeed jovial fellow, eager to talk creative theory and unruly practice, and to share gossip and stories. I’m sure others will have their own stories of His Holiness, but in the meantime:

Hail Eris!

see / hear also:
Pope Fred, Radical Australia, 3CR, April 7, 2021
Pope Fred 2012 performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1XRXnAopCmg
Pope Fred's poetry website: plastique
Fred (aka Ric) was a collective member of the IRL Infoshop in Melbourne, where a celebration of his life was held on November 3. A recording of the event is available: https://www.facebook.com/IRLinfoshop

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

The Stars.

 

           AK Press a machine that keeps on producing gems. This From Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library October 2023

           

             In 2013 Barry Pateman wrote a piece about Ethel Mannin’s No More Mimosa, his contact with Spanish anarchist exiles and the contrast between the revolutionary situation they had been part of and the grim reality of defeat. ‘Exile meant the end of nearly everything they had known. […] A terrible protective dignity became their defense against a world that had cast them adrift.’ [1]
          The anarchist exiles were hardly a homogenous bloc. Different choices, experiences, attitudes and status within the movement before 1939 saw to that (never mind the difference between being exiled in, say, France or Mexico). As a child, Octavio Alberola went into exile with his family: his father was the rationalist schoolteacher José Alberola Navarro who clashed with some members of the Durruti Column: ‘The revolution’s purpose is not providing opportunities for vengeance, but rather to set an example.’ [p.20]
           In exile in Mexico, Octavio met Fidel Castro and Che Guevara before they were famous; and also fell foul of the unwritten rule that refugees should not get involved in Mexican politics. After that, Alberola was part of the anarchist resurgence (and not only within the Spanish movement) that we think of as part of the sixties. Partly this connected with the confidence of a new generation, as seen at the Limoges Congress of 1961: ‘On one side stood the “veterans,” the militants who had fought against fascism in the civil war. They were now twenty-two years older, fifty years old and up. Mature, tempered people who proceeded at a comfortable pace. On the other side were the “newcomers,” the children of exile, who had left Spain at a very young age or been born elsewhere. With no investment in the myth, they didn’t hesitate to make action the priority.’ [p.114]
          Octavio was part of this ‘activist’ current, being involved in Defensa Interior and the First of May Group. Neither group succeeded in assassinating Franco but their other strand of symbolic actions generated much negative publicity for the Spanish dictatorship. Not to mention a certain amount of controversy within the movement. After the Ussia kidnapping by the First of May Group,[2] leaders of the CNT denounced the ‘thoroughly negative initiative’ [p.176] only to be answered ‘They at least are living in the present rather in the past like some older militants who once had credibility, or in the future, like others who make anarchy the way they would construct scale models once their working hours are over or when they have time on their hands’.[3]. Some veterans, Like Cipriano Mera or Juan Garcia Oliver, were involved in the Defensa Interior, so it was not purely a difference of generations.

Continue reading. 

          The Weight of the Stars: The Life of Anarchist Octavio Alberola by Agustín Comotto with Octavio Alberola, translated by Paul Sharkey.
https://www.akpress.org/the-weight-of-the-stars.html

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

State's Eyes.

 

 

                                        Image courtesy of Natoinal Technology News.

           We all accept that Big Brother society is already here, and it is for ever tightening its grip on our everyday movements. Unseen, the eyes of the state are on your daily life, from shopping to work, from your leisure activities to your daily chores. Then of course there is Stingray the phone data vacuum. IMSI-catchers, also known as Stingrays, allow police forces to track mobile phones and intercept text messages, calls and other data within their radius in real time. The devices can capture the private data and phone calls of anyone who happens to be in range, whether they are a suspect or not.

                                                    Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

An interesting article from Wired.

          

           A Beyoncé gig, the coronation of King Charles, and the British Formula One Grand Prix all have one thing in common: Thousands of people at the events, which all took place earlier this year, had their faces scanned by police-operated face recognition tech.
          Backed by the Conservative government, police forces across England and Wales are being told to rapidly expand their use of the highly controversial technology, which globally has led to false arrests, misidentifications, and lives derailed. Police have been told to double their use of face searches against databases by early next year—45 million passport photos could be opened up to searches—and police are increasingly working with stores to try to identify shoplifters. Simultaneously, more regional police forces are testing real-time systems in public places.
          The rapid expansion of face recognition comes at a time when trust in policing levels are at record lows, following a series of high-profile scandals. Civil liberties groups, experts, and some lawmakers have called for bans on the use of face recognition technology, particularly in public places, saying it infringes on people’s privacy and human rights, and isn’t a “proportionate” way to find people suspected of committing crimes.
          “In the democratic world, we are an outlier at the moment,” says Madeleine Stone, a senior advocacy officer with Big Brother Watch, a privacy-focused group that has called for a ban and “immediate stop” on live face recognition, a proposal backed by 65 UK lawmakers. The EU, which the UK left in 2016, may ban the real-time use of face recognition systems, and one of its highest courts has called the technology “highly intrusive.” Various US states have banned police from using the technology.
          Cops in England and Wales can hunt for potential criminals using two main kinds of face recognition. First, there are live face recognition systems (LFR): These usually include cameras mounted on police vans that scan people’s faces as they walk by and check them against a “watchlist” of wanted people. The LFR technology is deployed for some big events and announced in advance by the police. Second, there’s retrospective face recognition (RFR), where images from CCTV, smartphones, and doorbell cameras can be fed into a system that tries to identify the person based on millions of existing photos. Police use of both systems is increasing.
          Two police forces in England and Wales—London’s Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police—have embraced LFR, using the technology for multiple years. (Police in Scotland, where policing is overseen locally, don’t use live systems but are reportedly increasing their use of RFR). So far this year, the Met and South Wales Police have used LFR on 22 separate occasions, according to statistics published on their websites.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Gone Rogue.

 

 

                                      Image courtesy of Workers Revolutionary Party

           The powerful and the privileged always build organisations to protect them and their wealth and privileges. Over time they keep making them stronger and more powerful and eventually they are out of control and become just another rogue power in society. That's policing today in our so called democracies.

                                             Image courtesy of Belfast Telegraph.

The following is from Act for Freedom Now. 

Greece: Testimony of the brother of a dead teenager
12/11/2023

        “We were with my brother, his girlfriend and her sister. He didn’t have a driving licence yet and now that he was nearly 18 he was about to get one. We had taken the car for a drive. We were going from Aliarto to Leontari Thebes. My brother signaled to him to stop but because there were bends in the road there, he didn’t want to as he was afraid someone might come in the opposite direction and there would be a crash. My brother was scared because we had the girls in the car. A little further on, at about 800 metres, he put on the hazard lights and stopped the car.”
         The brother of the dead 17-year-old and an eyewitness stated that “the policeman got out of the cop car fuming with nerves, approached, hit the car window on my brother’s side with his gun, with force. My brother opened the door, he didn’t have time to get out before the policeman starting kicking him in the ribs, in the legs, on his shins, grabbed him by the T shirt and shot him. The asphalt was covered in my brother’s blood. For nothing. There are witnesses. No pursuit, nothing. At that moment there was nothing I or the girls could do”.

Some up dates: 12/11/ 23 In Thessaloniki, a march of about 300 people. Strong tension.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

God's Gift.

Image courtesy of The Guardian.

           Does anybody still believe that Israel's plan for Gaza is simply to destroy Hamas? Hour by hour it becomes clear that it is still the religious fanatics plan of a Greater Israel, to remove the Palestinians from Gaza by completely flatting the entire Gaza strip to rubble, no homes, no hospitals, no schools, no shops, no roads, creating conditions that make it impossible for any civilised society to exist. Forcing the people of Gaza to flee and become refugees in another land, then the West Bank will be handled similarly. All this bloodshed and slaughter based on the idiotic belief that more than 2,000 years ago their wee man in the sky granted them this land. I wonder what their god thinks of them as the wilfully slaughter thousands of innocent men women and children to realise his gift.

 

Image courtesy of The Wire.

 

         To grasp the extent of the ruthless, relentless bombing that is being unleashed on the people of Gaza, I repeat this extract from an article by Alistair Crooke.
         

The large ‘elephant’ is this: Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tons of high explosives since 7 October (the 1945 Hiroshima nuke was 15,000 tons equivalent). What exactly is Netanyahu and his war cabinet’s aim here? Ostensibly, the earlier military operation in Jabalia Camp was about targeting a Hamas leader suspected of lurking under the camp – but six 2,000 lb bombs for one Hamas ‘target’ in a crowded refugee camp? And why too the attacks on water cisterns, hospital solar energy panels and hospital entrances, roads, schools and bakeries?
       Bread has almost disappeared in Gaza. The UN says all bakeries in northern Gaza have closed following the bombing of the last bakeries. Clean water is desperately short, and thousands of bodies are slowly decomposing under rubble. Disease and epidemic are appearing, whilst humanitarian supplies are being tightly restricted as a bargaining tool toward further hostage releases..

Editor of Haaretz, Aluf Benn, puts the Israeli strategy very plainly:

        “The expulsion of the Palestinian residents, transformation of their homes into piles of construction rubble, and the restriction of the entry of supplies and fuel into Gaza are the “tiebreaking move” employed by Israel in the current conflict, unlike all previous rounds of fighting in the Strip”.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Genocide.

 

Image courtesy of The Independent.

           There can't be a sane human on this earth that doesn't see what is happening in Gaza and scream, genocide, ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, on a savage, brutal, inhumane scale not seen for many a year. Anyone who doesn't shout out loud and clear, "The slaughter must stop" and stop immediately must be blind or a religious Zionist fanatic. Our streets across the world must heave with the weight and numbers of ordinary people, all with the same cry, "Freedom for Palestine" and "Ceasefire now".

The following film is from SubMedia.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Unelected.

   

        They keep saying we live in a democracy, a country where we elect those we wish to hold the offices of government. However, if it suits the powers that be, they will introduce someone who hasn't been elected, just to suit their political ambitions. One David Cameron, of Eton Bullingdon Club, he who introduced the Brexit referendum and lost then resigned. while in office he introduced us to austerity and the disastrous illegal war in Libya. In his retirement from parliament, he decided to persistently lobby all his old chums in government to give our tax money to one of his cronies to boost his business. You would say that makes him unfit for government office. Of course politics is an underhand shady business, so unelected David Cameron pops up as Foreign Secretary. A slight of hand, just give him a seat in the House of Lords and hey presto, he can hold a ministerial post unelected. Ah, the wonders of capitalist democracy in this land of imperialist pomp and ceremony. 

Image courtesy of Cagle.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Hate.

 

 

         On Saturday November 11th, I joined the Glasgow "hate march" as described by Suela Braverman, more popularly know as pro-Palestine marches. How shocked do you think I was at seeing such hateful placards saying such things as "freedom for Palestine", "stop the genocide", "ceasefire now", "where is humanity", "end the bloodshed", and more such "hate" displays. No wonder Suela Braverman is angry, these displays are enough to infuriate any true fascist.
        When will we rid ourselves of these hate filled politicians that believe Israel has the right to perpetrate genocide. collective punishment and ethnic cleansing. The Israeli right wing government of religious fanatics keep shouting that the Palestinians want to remove Israel from the map. When in actual fact it has been the aim of the Israeli religious fanatics, since the creation of Israel in Palestine, to remove the Palestinians from the map. To date they have accomplished most of that fanatical dream, as the borders of Palestine continue to shrink and Israeli borders grow. These religious fanatics have managed to displace millions of Palestinians to other countries, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. They have turned Gaza into an brutal open air prison and are now trying by shear brute force, to force the population to move to Egypt. They have never deviated from their fanatical dream of a Greater Israel at the expense of the people of Palestine.
        We must keep up these so called "hate Marches" and with ever effort try to make them grow to become an unstoppable force for peace and justice for the people of Palestine and across the world.     

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info