SELF DEFENCE IS NOT A CRIME- IS IT??

Unity statement -
Defend the right to protest - Defend Education

Now is the time for unity, more so now than at any point in our movement for a better world. The move to privatatise all areas of our lives and work will need maximum unity against their efforts to divide us.

SIGN THE STATEMENT ONLINE NOW AND FORWARD TO YOUR NETWORKS
http://www.petitiononline.com/st53231/petition.html

We need unity to defend education and break the Con Dems’ attacks. Stand with protesters against victimisation.
• Stand with the protestors against victimisation
• Hands off our students, our colleges and our universities
• Broken windows cannot compare to the broken hearts and dreams of a generation denied education and jobs
       Wednesday’s 10th November national NUS/UCU 50,000 strong national demonstration was a magnificent show of strength against the Con Dems’ savage attacks on education. The Tories want to make swingeing cuts, introduce £9,000 tuition fees and cut EMA. These attacks will close the doors to higher education and further education for a generation of young people. During the demonstration over 5,000 students showed their determination to defend the future of education by occupying the Tory party HQ and its courtyards for several hours. At least 32 people have now been arrested, and the police and media appear to be launching a witch-hunt condemning peaceful protesters as “criminals” and violent. A great deal is being made of a few windows smashed during the protest, but the real vandals are those waging a war on our education system.
        We reject any attempt to characterise the Millbank protest as small, “extremist” or unrepresentative of our movement. We celebrate the fact that thousands of students were willing to send a message to the Tories that we will fight to win. Occupations are a long established tradition in the student movement that should be defended. It is this kind of action in France and Greece that has been an inspiration many workers and students in Britain faced with such a huge assault on jobs, housing and the public sector.

We stand with the protesters, and anyone who is victimised as a result of the protest.
Initial signatories include:

Mark Bergfeld, NUS NEC
Sean Rillo Raczka, Birkbeck SU Chair and NUS NEC (Mature Students’ Rep)
Vicki Baars, NUS LGBT Officer (Women’s Place)
Alan Bailey, NUS LGBT Officer (Open Place)
Kanjay Sesay, NUS Black Students’ Officer
Matt Bond, NUS Disabled Ctte (Open Place rep)
Michael Chessum, Education and Campaigns Officer UCL SU
Jade Baker, Education Officer Westminster Uni SU
Cameron Tait, University of Sussex Students' Union President
Nathan Bolton, Campaigns Officer Essex University Students’ Union
Clare Solomon, ULU President
Jim Wolfreys, UCU NEC
Dr Marion Hersh, UCU NEC and Scottish Executive
Alex Gordon, President, National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers (RMT)
Lee Hall, playwright ‘Billy Elliot’
Hilary Wainwright, Transnational Institute
Alex Callinicos, Professor of European Studies King’s College London
Billy Bragg Songwriter
Noami Klein Author and Activist.
All in a personal capacity

SOLIDARITY.

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NO WAY TO PUT AN END TO WAR.

Something to think about as rmemberance Sunday  approaches. Listen to Buffy HERE.

Universal Soldier

He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada,
he's fighting for France,
he's fighting for the USA,
and he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls

But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can't go on

He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.

Buffy Sainte-Marie 1964.

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SELF DEFENCE IS NOT A CRIME.

You either take what you get or you fight back, self defence is not a crime.

Manchester University Students Occupy against the cuts


Statement from students in occupation at Manchester University:

       “Students at Manchester Univeristy have peacefully occupied the John Owens Building and are lobbying the finance board over the Coalition’s attacks on higher education.

       “We are demanding that the University opens its books so that we know where the cuts will fall, how many voluntary redundancies have already been made and to highlight the fact that the vice Chancellor is paid 20 times the average salary. The financial director has denied any cuts are planned, despite the fact that voluntary redundancies have been announced and the combined studies department has already been cut.

        “We are here to support lecturers and administrative staff who will be losing their jobs. To oppose the rise in tuition fees that will price out most working class students. And to oppose the privatisation of our Universities.”

Rush messages of support to    manunioccupation2010@gmail.com
http://manunioccupation.blogspot.com/2010/11/manchester-university-students-occupy.html
 

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THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT.

      Ian Duncan Smith's new super plan to penalise the unemployed is now about to be rolled out. It's modelled on that righteous authoritarian dictate, “three strikes and you're out”. Your crimes could one or all of the following dreadful crimes, refusing to take a job offered by your “Job Seeker Advisor”, failing to apply for a job when told to do so, failing to turn up for a placement interview.

      For the first offence you could lose three months Job Seekers Allowance, a second offence and it is six months lose of JSA, and wait for it, a third offence and you lose your JSA for three YEARS. Another little bit of their authoritarian mind set is that you have no right of appeal, your Job Seeker Advisor's word is final.

      This type of planing chooses to ignore the fact that there are 500,000 listed vacancies in this country while there are over 2.5 million unemployed. It also chooses to ignore that with their policies of cuts, we are going to see another 500.000 public sector workers dumped on the unemployment queue, plus the knock-on effect in the private sector.

      A Job Seeker Advisor will be able to strip “errant” unemployed of their JSA with no right of appeal, and no doubt the Advisor will be under pressure to meet targets. Cameron's millionaire poodle, Clegg says that the plans will bring 300,000 households back into work. Even assuming his figures are anyway near accurate, what he fails to mention is that figure will be more than replaced by the public sector pay-offs.

     There are thousands of reasons why people become unemployed, the biggest one is lack of decent jobs, nothing in the millionaire's plans go any way to solving that problem. Forcing people to go about picking up litter 30 hours a week for no pay does not create jobs. It could of course reduce paid employment as councils struggling to cut cost now find that they can have the streets cleaned for free, will start to pay off those who are paid to do this work.

     All of these plans are driven by an ideology, there is nothing wrong with the capitalist model, your poor because of you own lack of effort, the unemployed are lazy shirkers and if you are not working you deserve nothing. This is the type of society they are intent on forcing on the people of this country, there is no room for sharing, helping those less fortunate than ourselves, services based on needs. Everything must create a profit for the millionaire class and that profit as usual will come from the working class, who will have no say in how our society is run. Our lords and masters will be the corporate world, it is not a pretty picture if you are a member of the working class. Only by realising this is a class war, and at the moment we are loosing, can we hope to reverse this trend and push society in the direction of an all inclusive sharing society where needs over ride profit and mutual aid is the basic principle.

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DON'T BREAK OUR COMMUNITIES APART!

        
       The free-marketeers ideology gathers pace. Shifting asylum seekers from council housing to private sector housing puts more tax payers money in the pockets of the private sector landlords, apart from the misery and pressure it puts on the individuals and families of those involved.
         The following was taken from; http://www.indymediascotland.org/node/22207
Keep the Contract with Glasgow City Council!
Join the Protest:

Monday 15 November
10.30am
Outside Glasgow City Chambers,
George Square.

Today at a meeting in Cranhill it was confirmed that the first asylum seeker families are to be moved out of Glasgow City Council accommodation starting as early as Monday next week. One family has been told they will be moving on Monday. At least two other families have been told they'll also be leaving accommodation provided by the council next week. On Saturday last week, the 900 plus asylum seeker families who are currently accommodated in housing organised by Glasgow City Council received letters stating that the housing contract from the UK Border Agency to house them had been terminated.

        Staff at the Glasgow Asylum Seeker Support Project were told at 3pm on Friday afternoon after their acting head had received the news in an email. The move has taken everyone involved in supporting asylum seekers in Glasgow completely by surprise and came as a shock to many.

       It is still not known where families are going to be moved to and the confusion is spreading anxiety and alarm through the asylum seeker community in Glasgow. Earlier today the UKBA press office was suggesting that, in the short term at least, the other current accommodation providers in Glasgow, the YMCA charity and the notorious Angel Group, would take on the contract. The letters sent out to the tenants however suggest that they could be relocated to anywhere in Scotland.

        Now facing significant disruption to their housing - and potentially facing being moved away from established friends and supporters as well as from services such as GPs and social workers - asylum seekers in Glasgow are extremely alarmed and concerned about this sudden news. Many are concerned about how their children could be affected if they are moved out of established schools. Many are also worried that they may have to move away from friends and supportive neighbours and community groups, breaking the strong ties that have developed over months and years in communities across the city. Other concerns have also been raised about the ability of the YMCA and the Angel Group to provide adequate accommodation at such short notice.

      Since taking over part of the housing contract in 2006, both the Angel Group and the YMCA, have received criticism over how they have provided accommodation to asylum seekers. The Angel Group, in particular, have had many accusations of providing inadequate housing and its staff giving poor service, made against it.

        UNITY is calling for a protest outside of Glasgow City Chambers of everyone concerned about the sudden ending of the housing contract and against the disruption to our communities and its impact on the lives of our friends and neighbours.

      Come to Glasgow City Chambers at 10.30 Monday 15th November to show your opposition to these developments and to call on the UKBA and Glasgow City Council to resolve any difficulties.

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LET'S MAKE THAT STAND.

    

       In 1945 the Atlee government came to power in spite of the dire warnings of the doom and disaster brigade of the privileged Churchill pack of parasites. In taking power his government set about carrying out its promises of laying the foundations for a society based on needs based services. It was not perfect, but it was a massive step to a better society for the ordinary people. Over the years it has changed and grown, modified in many ways, but the underlying structure was the same, we look after those that can't look after themselves, we give to those who are in need.

        This bunch of millionaire parasites that have cobbled together a coalition of millionaires to grasp power is a grouping of dogmatic free-marketeers and they are on a mission. That mission is to dismantle the very principles and structures of our welfare state. This is not an “on the hoof” idea, it is a vicious well planned idealogical attack on the ideas of sharing and mutual aid at the base of any civilised society, the very principles that underpin our welfare state. Everything will be supplied by the private sector. There will be no such thing as public assets, no public space.

       To do this they need the help of the public, so they set about using the tried and tested policy of scaremongering, the same tactics used by the last government in their “war-on-terror” as they chipped away at our civil liberties.

       This millionaire cabal of free-marketeers will attempt to scare you into believing that any other policy will have catastrophic effects on us all. Along with their scaremongering, they will of course come up with their chosen scapegoats. They will set about demonising the unemployed, making out that they are living a life of luxury at our expense. A life of luxury on £65 a week job seekers allowance. They will claim that it is their own fault they are unemployed, ignoring the fact that, in this country there is over 2.5 million unemployed and only 500,000 job vacancies. They will persist in this lying and smoke and mirrors illusion even as the unemployment is set to rise dramatically. 

       Their vision of society is one that everything we do and everything we want will generate profit for their shareholders. Everything, health, education, pensions, prison services and all other social services will be provided by the corporate world over which we will have no control what so ever. If it can't generate profit the price will be increased or it will be closed down, no matter the need.

       Those who cannot provide some profit for them will be left to fend for themselves or appeal to some charity or other. This is the return of the Victorian era of wealth and privilege swaggering over abject poverty, where the poor are punished for being poor.

      They can't do it without your quiet consent, if this is the world you want for you kids and grand-kids then remain silent and let them suffer. If on the other hand you want a better world for your kids and grand-kids then stop being silent, stop giving consent by your apathy. Stand up and stop being silent, they are prepared for a fight but hoping you won't bother. Let us prepare for a fight, a fight for the right to a decent life without being in bondage to the corporate world. Your kids and grand-kids are depending on you. Communicate, organise, resist.

LET’S MAKE THAT STAND.

Come rise with me

here, take my hand

it’s time my brothers

to make that stand,

we’ve bought this world

with blood and tears

shed by our kin

through countless years.

Put an end to war

it’s time for pace

man killing man

has to cease.

No more poverty

in a sea of wealth

all men equal

in a new commonwealth.

Let’s never again kneel

let’s stand up tall

claim what’s ours

justice for all.

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STATE VIOLENCE AND LEGITIMATE TORTURE!!!!

      

       So George W. Bush has informed us that lives have been saved in the UK and US by waterboarding. According to the logic of this deranged individual, torture is fine if it is done by the good guys but is evil when done by the bad guys. Of course they are both doing it for the same reasons, in the hope of extracting information that might be useful to their cause. My problem is how do you differentiate between and “bad” guy torturing another human being, and a “good” guy torturing another human being? With these statements what these so called leaders are proving is that there is no difference between the power mongers at both ends of the so called “war on terror”. They are both extremists and have no compassion for anybody who gets in their way. Immense suffering can be inflicted on thousands of innocent people as long as you believe that your God is on your side and you're doing it for the right reasons. This allows us to vilify the suicide bomber while applauding the “shock-and-awe” inflicted on the innocent people of Iraq. You see, our cause was good, their cause was bad, simple logic. These psychopathic leaders see the horror that is now experienced by millions of innocent Iraqis and Afghans as acceptable simply because they say the cause is right. If the situation was reversed and we suffered as these unfortunate people's, have and are suffering, it would of course be a dreadful evil, their cause couldn't possible be as noble as ours. It is all part of the Western philosophy, me-right-you-wrong, which allows us to ride roughshod over any country in order to further our own interests.

           Oh for the end of this state system that pits man against man because of ever shifting lines drawn on the planets surface, an end to the power held by religions, and an end to this capitalist system of greed and exploitation that pits man against man and state against state all for the greater good of the shareholders.

 

PATRIOTISM.

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,

if truth be known, ‘tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag

held aloft by some foolish hand

inciting worker and peasant to kill

on some green and wooded hill,

peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag

that brings out fools to stand and brag

of brutal deeds painted grand,

deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still

killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation

this man made autocratic creation

that divides my brothers in a world so small,

binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,

bids us follow its drum, sing its song,

then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,

have no ear for power oration,

though its iron heel is on my breast,

my back feels its leather thong,

at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

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21st. CENTURY SLAVERY, UK STYLE.

      

        Every day it becomes more obvious the the ConDem millionaires coalition is nothing more than the unadulterated self interest of the millionaires club, a straight up front attempt to safeguard their unearned wealth by slashing the welfare state and allowing their other millionaire friends to offer the services at a price and a profit to them. Privatisation brought in under the guise of necessary “austerity cuts”. They know it is class war, isn't it about time we reacted accordingly? This cabal of millionaires are now not afraid to show their true colours, to hell with the pretence of “liberalism”, it is now in with the hatchet and carve everything up for privatisation. At the same time placing the blame on the last bunch of corrupt fraudsters, with their mantra, it was all their fault, while they gleefully go about attacking the living conditions of the working class.

         They will spout their favourite phrase, “deregulation” which will remove any form of community control and carve up even the most basic services to the poor and vulnerable, to allow their millionaire mates to step in and make a killing at our expense. What is on the cards for the working class is a society controlled by Group 4, Capita, etc. with the only guarantee being crap wages, no job security, longer working life, if you manage to get a job, and shit pensions. All this along with high unemployment decimated health service and shredded education system. There will of course always be the few charities struggling to do their best to help out in this Victorian society of deprivation.

          Another little trick they have up their sleeve is, if you have been unemployed for any length of time on job-seekers allowance, (in the midst of high unemployment) you will be “obliged” to do 30 hours manual labour a week, for free. It could be council work picking up litter or some other job that the council has to pay somebody to do. So I don't see the council employing people when they can force them to work for nothing. For those people with a little dignity and a belief that slavery went out some time ago, who decide not to demean themselves or take somebody else's paid job away, they will be hit with their benefit being stopped for three months, all £65 of it.

        This is the millionaires co-joined twins' “Big Society”, everything privatised, slavery for thousands and crap wages and conditions for the “lucky”. All this while the millionaires who dreamed up the plan laughing all the way to the bank, chuckling, “suckers”.

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NEWS CORPORATION.

     

     A short profile of Rupert Murdoch taken from Class War,  his influence spreads far and wide, so you should know a little about the man.

     Rupert Murdoch is News Corporation, an organisation that has evaded, (avoided) paying what would be considered his fair share in tax.

      Some of Murdoch's tax avoiding assets: Fox, Sky, The Sun, News of the World, The Times, The Financial Times, and Myspace.com. He is rated as the 117th richest person in the world with a net worth of $6.3 billion

        He is a union hater and according to the Economist in 1986 Murdoch helped to smash the British print unions by transferring the production of his newspapers to a non union plant at Wapping in East London. He stated that he would dismiss the 6,000 striking workers who were trying to win some concessions out of the media billionaire. The London Evening Standard called the episode, "the biggest union-busting operation in history."

      According to a BBC report; "Mr Murdoch's die-hard loyalty to the tax loophole has drawn wide criticism." The report found that in the four years prior to June 30, 1998, "Murdoch's News Corporation and its subsidiaries paid only $325 million in corporate taxes world wide. That translates as6% of the $5.4 billion consolidated pre-tax profits for the same period. By comparison another multi-national media empire, Disney paid, 31%. The corporate tax rates for the three main countries in which News Corp. operates - Australia, the United States and the UK - are 36%, 35% and 30% respectively. Further research reveals that Mr Murdoch's main British holding company News Corp. Investments, has paid no net corporation tax within these shores over the past 11 years. This is despite accumulated pre-tax profits of nearly $3 billion." 

    So in keeping with the feelings of the ordinary people about occupying and picketing bailed out bankers and tax dodgers we could start a boycott campaign against the tax dodging anti-working class newspapers who will be peddling the crap put out by the millionaire cabal at the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption, that these cuts are necessary.

ann arky's home.  

THE PEOPLE STRIKE BACK!!!

     The people strike back: http://www.indymediascotland.org/node/22138

     More and more we are seeing people from all across the political spectrum taking direct action against the gambling casinos they call the financial sector and the tax dodgers of the corporate world. People are beginning to show their anger at the gamblers blowing their lot in the casinos of the financial world, then coming with the begging bowl and being given billions of tax payers money only to pay themselves massive bonuses and run straight back to the casino. At the same time telling us we have run up too much debt because of the money we have loaned them, so we will have to decimate our welfare services to save the bond markets losing some of their money.

       Do we have to put up with Vodafone's £6 billion tax fiddle and the new boss of Lloyd's getting a £7 million pay package, while we are told to tighten out belts and head to the nearest charity to get help for our kids? The list of tax evaders, (dodgers) is so common place that they are quite blatant about it all. It ranges from Vodafone to Google, to Murdoch's News Corporation, from Ashcroft to Green, billions of what should be tax paid to society is siphoned off into private coffers or poured back in to their business to increase bonuses to shareholders.

      Recently we have seen banks being occupied and picketed along with Vodafone, this justified action is simple to organise and effectively hits them in the pocket as well as showing other people that there is a way to get back at the greed machine that is set to shred our standard of living. Watch for what is going on in your area and join them, those involved are ordinary people, working, unemployed, pensioners. After all it is the ordinary people that are being squeezed but we don't have to take it lying down.

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DEPLETED URANIUM, A STATE CRIME.

        

        Over the years I have written several articles on depleted uranium, some in blogs and websites and one for the newspaper Freedom. I have highlighted the horrors in Serbia and Kosovo caused by NATO forces use of depleted uranium weaponry on the people of that unfortunate region. Also the use of these same weapons much closer to home at the weapons testing range at Dundrennan on the Solway Firth. However all that was dwarfed by the US and UK forces use of these weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan. What has unfolded in these regions must rate as the one of the greatest ever state crimes. In regions of Iraq the rate of birth defects has risen into the stratosphere, cancers and other diseases have sky-rocketed and this is set to continue for many years to come. Yet most people in the West are blissfully ignorant of what their governments have done in their name, not only to these countries, but to our own troops, and of course our governments play dumb and carry on using these weapons of mass destruction.

          To once again attempt to highlight this state crime against innocent people I have lifted part of someone elses article on the subject.

          You can read the whole article HERE. 

         "Most Americans have no idea that depleted uranium munitions used by the U.S. military are causing one of the greatest environmental nightmares in the history of the world. In fact, most Americans have no idea what depleted uranium even is. But even as many Americans gobble down their burgers and french fries and pizza and enjoy the "good life" watching their big screen televisions, an entirely different story is being written on the other side of the world. In Iraq and Afghanistan today, there are some areas that have been so polluted by depleted uranium that they have literally become uninhabitable hellholes. Americans like to think of themselves as so "environmentally conscious", but the truth is that one of the greatest environmental tragedies of all time is being caused by the U.S. military and yet nobody seems to care."

      The full article is a must read.

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REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE 11th OF NOVEMBER??

       

       Every day, every month, the workers have a history to tell and write. Though we could go through the month of November and find volumes of working class history worth remembering, I think this one is of special significance. It highlighted the depth of hypocrisy and corruption that the state will go to in an attempt to crush those who stand up to fight for the rights of the ordinary people. This event was not about the deaths of eight police officers, mostly killed by police bullets, it was about trying to crush an idea. An idea that workers could organise together in an attempt to better their conditions. To this day, states all over the world are still trying to put obstacles in the way of workers organisation. Some states more brutally than others but all will go as far as the feel they can get away with in an attempt to keep the workers "in their place".

      Perhaps you could let ann arky know what piece of November working class history you think is significant and why. Write it in the comments for others to read. Our history must be written or it never happened.  Read some of Glasgow's working class history HERE.         

      

      November, 11, 1887, the Haymarket anarchists, Spies, Fischer, Engel and Parsons were executed at Illinois prison. It became know as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American legal history. The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, started in May, 4, 1886 when a mass meeting was held in Chicago at Haymarket Square in support of a strike for an eight hour working day.

       The police moved in to disperse the meeting, at that point an unknown person threw a bomb at the police lines, the unsuing confusion of the bomb and gunfire resulted in eight police officers being killed mostly from “friendly fire”. There was also an unkown number of civilians injured and killed.

       The legal proceedings that followed saw eight anarchists tried for murder, the trial also received international publicity and the verdict received international condemnation. Although the prosecution conceded that none of the accused had thrown the bomb, four men were convicted and executed and one committed suicide in prison. At the execution, Parsons’ last words are reported to have been, “let the voice of the people be heard.”

     The Haymarket affair is usually seen as significant in the origin of the workers International May Day. It was also seen as the event that brought about the caricature of the “bomb throwing anarchist”. Although none of the accused threw the bomb, to this day, that caricature is still used by many, among them the mainstream media.

     The site of the incident was designated a Chicago Landmark on March 25, 1992. The Haymarket Martyrs' Monument in nearby Forest Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark on February 18, 1997.

 

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KNOW YOUR HISTORY, THEY'RE STILL AFTER YOU.

       Since the word anarchism first appeared, the various states have been doing all they can to get rid of those who support the theory and practice of anarchism. It obviously worries them that the people should want to control their own affairs and remove power and wealth from the handful of parasites who have for far too long had an unearned  monopoly on on both. Their attacks will use whatever they have at their disposal, phony science, propaganda, indoctrination, (education) violence and intimidation. In spite of this it hasn't gone away, if anything, there are probably more anarchist now than there has ever been. The idea that people can manage their own affairs better than a privileged parasitical elite can, is now more obvious than ever. However, the state never gives up without a fight, so it will continue to intimidate, misrepresent and use overt and covert means to try to destroy the idea that people will benefit more from self-management, co-operation, free association and mutual aid, working in federated communities based on sustainability. Why so many people still fall for the states line that we are better off living in a system of power and privilege to the few, is a bit of a mystery to me.

     

       The following article was taken from Redpepper

       "The International Conference of Rome for the Social Defence Against Anarchists, which took place between 24 November and 21 December 1898, agreed to a series of measures to clamp down on anarchist activities and propaganda.

      These included the establishment of new surveillance agencies; arrangements for the exchange of intelligence among participating countries; new laws on the possession and use of explosives; bans on membership of anarchist organisations and the distribution of anarchist publications; a prohibition on rendering assistance to anarchists; limits on press coverage of anarchist activities; and mandatory capital punishment for assassination of heads of state.

      The conference was convened in response to a wave of anarchist violence, including the assassination of Empress Elisabeth of Austria at Lake Geneva on 10 September 1898. It also agreed to an early version of suspect ‘profiling’ – the ‘portrait parlé’ method of criminal identification, based on Alphonse Bertillon’s system of classifying criminal suspects according to physical characteristics of parts of their head and body.

Britain was the only participating country that refused to sign the conference’s final protocol."

 

 

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MONEY FROM NOTHING, OR PHONEY WEALTH!!!

       

       The following is an extract from a much longer and very informative article which can be read HERE.

Amazing, in today's world you can create wealth by just adding a couple of zeros at the end of a reserve account, no need to go to the printers and waste all that paper.

4. Quantitative easing -- dirty deeds done dirt cheap.

        The long decline of the US dollar documented earlier -- a decline that is ongoing -- is one reflection of the growing relative weakness of the US in the context of the world economy as a whole. This growing weakness was revealed by the harsh impact of the most recent recession on the US economy, one felt much more strongly there than in the other major economies. In the face of this deepest recession in a generation, the fourth and final aspect of US-based currency wars came to the fore. It is without doubt the strangest of any that we have looked at, not the least because of its mysterious name, "quantitative easing".

       There are several ways of defining Quantitative Easing. According to the Central Bank of the United Kingdom, it is a way of injecting money into the economy "by purchasing financial assets from the private sector". How are these assets paid for? Why "with new central bank money". But where does that money come from? Well, "the Bank can create new money electronically by increasing the balance on a reserve account".[20] And that's it. New money is just simply created. If your balance is $1000, add a "zero" and it's $10,000, new money created "electronically by increasing the balance on a reserve account". Quantitative easing's "effect is the same as printing money in vast quantities, but without ever turning on the printing presses."[21] A skeptic would argue that the obscure term "quantitative easing" was chosen as less likely to arouse suspicion than a more transparent name such as "Harry Potter money creation".

       When this was policy in Japan in the wake of the deep recession of the early 1990s, it was derided in the US press as something "which essentially stuffed Japanese banks with cash to help them write off huge bad loans accumulated during the 1990s".[22] But since 2008, this policy of creating money from nothing has been embraced with passion in the United States. In 2008, the US central bank (the Federal Reserve) "bought $1.7 trillion worth of Treasury and mortgage bonds with newly created money".[23] That $1.7 trillion did not exist. It was brought into existence electronically and transferred to the books of financial institutions in the hopes of pushing that newly minted money into the economy and stimulating growth. That program is now over. There is, however, every prospect that another round of quantitative easing will be announced in the coming weeks, with anywhere from $1 trillion to $2 trillion being created electronically to "stuff US banks with cash to help them write off huge bad loans" accumulated in the last 10 years, to paraphrase the sarcastic analysis of Japan's similar policies.

ann arky's home.

THE BIG SOCIETY????

    

       Millionaire Cameron's “BIG SOCIETY” is certainly going to be big on unemployment. At present there are approximately 2.5 million people unemployed in the UK with about 1.5 million claiming Jobseekers Allowance. These figures are set to rise rapidly if the experts have done their sums properly. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, (CIPD) the private sector will lose most with the rise in VAT to 20%, they reckon that the increase VAT will throw approximately another 250,000 people on the dole from the private sector. John Philpott, chief economist with CIPD has stated that, ”The full impact of the coalition government's planned fiscal tightening has been underestimated.” The CIPD also says that their calculations show that the impact of VAT rise and the government's spending cuts will cost approximately 900,000 jobs from the private sector and 725,000 jobs from the public sector. Their estimate is that the coalition's cuts will cost the UK 1.6 million jobs over the next 5 years with the private sector taking the biggest hit.

        Well there you have it, the “BIG SOCIETY” everybody on the dole, services cut to the bone and everybody running around helping in charity organisations to alleviate the suffering of the poor, of which they themselves are part.

        How much of all this suffering will affect the millionaire cabal in the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption that are implementing this grand plan? Not one of them will feel the least bit of pain as the deprivation increases on the rest of society. Why do we accept the will of the millionaire class that inflicts this suffering on us, knowing that it is all to the benefit of their friends in the millionaires' club. Their cronies in the financial sector will be wining and dining them from now until they are buried. They know how to work together for their mutual benefit, isn't about time we the workers done the same? Why let parasites feed of your body, let's get rid of this whole system of privilege and power to the wealthy, and replace it with a system of co-operation, mutual aid, and sustainability that works for the benefit of all our people.

ann arky's home.

UNFAIR UNSAFE.

   

   
     What is it like living under a control order? This is from LIBERTY.
   
     Under a control order you might never know the accusation against you and never have the chance to clear your name. How would that feel?

      In February 2010 we spoke to a young man called Cerie Bullivant and he gave us a moving account of what life under a control order is really like:

      “It became impossible to live an ordinary life. As more and more restrictions and conditions were added, normal activities like working and studying became impossible. Not only did inflexibility of the hour that was set for the daily signing in make it difficult – between noon and 1pm – but any places of work or study had to be vetted by the Home Office. What employer is going to take the risk of hiring someone on a control order! Your life is no longer your own – you can’t plan anything."

     “It’s true I breached the control order a number of times – mostly for signing in late. Everyday I would have to travel to a particular police station to sign in. It wasn’t my local police station – it had to be a 24hour station, even though I had a set one hour period to sign in. Often the police station would be busy and I would have to wait in a queue – one of my ‘breaches’ for being late happened as I was standing in the police station waiting to sign in!”

      “After a year on the control order I tried to study mental health nursing – because of my experience of mum’s illness I thought I’d be good at it. However, the CRB check wasn’t coming back and the College were suspicious - also the daily sign in time made it impossible for me to attend class on time – and they wouldn’t let me change the time I had to sign in. In the end, it was impossible – I had to give it up."

       “More and more restrictions were added to my control order; I couldn’t work, I couldn’t study, I couldn’t plan anything, friends had turned against me, the pressure had caused my new wife to leave me. I felt isolated. I became really depressed; I was having nightmares, and would wake up in the night terrified, thinking the police were at my door.”

      Why not read Cerie’s full story and add your name to our petition to end control orders by visiting our  Unsafe Unfair campaign page.

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THERE IS A BETTER WAY.

      

      On Saturday 23 October there will be a massive demonstration and rally in Edinburgh against the cuts. It is important that we the ordinary people show our anger at the millionaire's attack on our living conditions. This onslaught against the working class is not because the millionaires are sadistic prats that want to hurt the poor, nor is it because they are stupid and got their calculations wrong. Nor is it about balancing the books, good housekeeping or about reducing the "deficit", this is a set agenda, it is about the transfer of public assets to the corporate world. It should be seen for what it is, it is class war. Starve the councils of funds and they will not be able to provide the services the community needs. Libraries, swimming baths, leisure centres, nursery schools, museums, sports grounds, etc. will all be up for closure. Lo and behold, in will come the white knight in shining armour, the private sector, ready and eager to supply you with everything you want or need, ---at a profit to them of course, with you having no control over the where and when and how. Quite simply it will be a case of no money, no facilities, you will of course still be able to apply to a charity to help you out, assuming that there is one that can see to your particular needs. The corporate world will provide everything from cleansing, pay by the kilo for your rubbish to be collected, pay by the litre for your water, we already have private prisons, why not education, health, policing, sports and leisure facilities?

      This is such an important issue that it will not be enough to march from A to B waving your banners, shouting your polite slogans at the selective deaf, and of course escorted by your friendly community police, still publicly financed but could soon be a private force. Remember the anti war demonstrations of 2003 when they completely ignored you and went in and blew Iraq back to the stone age with their "shock and awe"? We need to come up with different strategies, think back to the 1915 rent strikes, the first world war Clyde Workers Committee, the Poll Tax struggle the Upper Clyde Work-in. All mass grassroots movements that worked outside the usual party system, communities organising in federation with all other communities. We don't need to beg for more crumbs we have the power and the resources to create a just and fair society. The millionaire cabal and their masters the corporate world, are working as a united force to change the shape of society forever to their benefit. As a united force we, the ordinary people, can change the shape of society forever to our benefit and create a society that sees to the needs of all our people, sending the pampered millionaire parasites to the dustbin of history.  

     This attack by the millionaire parasites on our class is our opportunity to create the foundations for the "BETTER WAY". 

      There will be several of our Red and Black flags at the march, why not join us and show that we will be thinking outside the party political system and are determined to find that "BETTER WAY".

     

  
There is a Better Way - March and Rally

Edinburgh 23rd October 2010
11.00 am: Assemble East Market Street Edinburgh
11.30am: March off
12.30 pm: Rally Ross Bandstand

       The STUC has called a massive demonstration against the public spending cuts in Edinburgh on Saturday 23 October under the slogan There Is A Better Way. Asylum seekers and refugees will be targeted by the Government. Racism and Islamophobia will be dusted down from their war work and used to drive a wedge between people. The cuts will be accompanied and supported by nasty and dangerous scapegoating.

Please join the demo.

To help with banners and placards (if you live near Edinburgh) phone 07791913316 or email edinburghstw@tiscali.co.uk
More about the demo
Buses to the Demo.

Many trade unions and trades councils are organising buses to the demo. It may be worth contacting them even if you aren't a member

 
EIS Glasgow

Glasgow EIS have three buses booked to go to the march, leaving from George Square at 9.30am and returning from Edinburgh at around 2.30 pm. contact glasgowla@eis.org.uk

 or phone 0141 572 0550, leaving name, number of seats needed and the name of their associated school, college, service, playgroup, university, community group, etc.

Inverclyde LA (EIS)

Bus leaves from Gourock 8.30am, Greenock 8.40 am, Port Glasgow 8.45am and Paisley 9.10 am.
Contact Tom Traceymailto:inverclyde@eis.org.uk


South Lanarkshire EIS

Four Buses, all depart 9am leave Edinburgh 2.30 pm

Lanark - at the bus stance at the bus station

Hamilton - Beckford Street across from Courts

East Kilbride - Atholl House

Rutherglen - Stonelaw High, Community Wing Entrance

All welcome

To book seats phone Bill Ramsay Secretary South Lanarkshire EIS 01698 452769


City of Aberdeen Unison

Inverurie 7.00am, Aberdeen 7.30am, Stonehaven 8.00am

Buses are free to Unison members, family and friends. Places can be reserved by contacting Wendy Hudson w.hudson@unison.so.uk or on 01224 620624

City of Dundee Unison

Leaving from “The Howff, Meadowside 9.30 am


City of Glasgow Unison

UNISON Office, 18 Albion Street, Glasgow, 9.30am
Members wishing to book should e-mail enquiries@glasgowcityunison.co.uk


South Lanarkshire Unison

Atholl House, East Kilbride at 9.30, Council Offices, Hamilton at 9.45.
To book a place contact South Lanarkshire UNISON on 01698 454690.


West Dunbartonshire UNISON and joint trade unions

The buses will leave at approximately 9.00 am from the following departure points:- Balloch Bus Stance, Alexandria CE Centre, Renton Health Centre, Dumbarton Central Station, Dumbarton East Station, Bowling Station, Old Kilpatrick, The Ettrick and Clydebank Town Hall. Members wishing to reserve a seat should contact Linda on 01389 737246

or email unison@west-dunbarton.gov.uk indicating numbers and preferred pick up point



Inverness Unison

Bus leaves Inverness (Highland Council Headquarters rear car park, Glenurquart Road) at 7 am.
The bus leaves Edinburgh at 4 pm.
Please contact Liz Mackay, UNSON on unisonhighland@btconnect.com,
or telephone 01463 715891



Kilmarnock and Loudoun TUC
Kilmarnock: A bus is leaving John Finnie Post Office Kilmarnock on Saturday October 23 at 9.30am .
Contact Arthur West on 07803936228 to book seats or
 e-mail arthurwest@btconnect.com
Bus organised by Kilmarnock and Loudoun Trades Union Council. .


Aberdeen TUC

Aberdeen TUC Marsichal College, Broad Street, Aberdeen, 7.30am


North Lanarkshire TUC

Bus will leave from the COMMUNITY Union Building, Motherwell at 8.30am and should return about 17.00pm. Due to cost a donation will be taken on the bus.

Contact Hugh Gaffney hugh.gaffney@yahoo.co.uk




Unite the Union

Aberdeen, Marsichal College, Broad Street, Aberdeen, 7.30am Tommy.Campbell@unitetheunion.org

Dundee, Unite, Dundee Office, 110 Blackness Road, 9.30 am Colin.Coupar@unitetheunion.org

Glasgow, Blytheswood Square, 9.00am Jackson.Cullinane@unitetheunion.org *

Scottish Borders: 8.00 am - Hawick Market Street.; 8.30 am - Galashiels - Bus station; 9.00 am Peebles - Post Office, Main Street.

Gillian.McKay@unitetheunion.org

Unite members should book seats by contacting the named official for each bus


Glasgow GMB

There will be a bus available on Saturday, 23rd October for Organisers/Members who wish to travel to the Demo from Glasgow. There are 70 seats available.

The Bus will depart from Fountain House at 9.30 am on Saturday, 23rd October and will return to Fountain House immediately following the demonstration.

If any Organiser/Member wishes to book a seat on the bus please e-mail these names to Ellen Page at
ellen.page@gmb.org.uk


Glasgow General Apex Branch

Departs STUC, 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow G3 6NG at 9.00 am, Returning 4.00 pm

Members wishing to book seats should email kbuchanan@stuc.org.uk



Check for transport updates at http://www.thereisabetterway.org/buses-23-october-edinburgh

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YOU CAN'T EAT MONEY.

       

        This article first appeared on annarky 1 blog on April 6 2010 but I think it is worth repeating. It is just one field where the big money funds manipulate and speculate to increase their wealth at the expense of the ordinary people. Crisis after crisis is inflicted on the ordinary people to the benefit of the pampered parasites that feed of the people, all in the name of profit, it is called capitalism.

    

         "Over the last year we have seen food prices rise at an alarming rate with the pundits pointing in all directions as the possible area to blame. It is drought and other adverse weather conditions, it is the increase population, it is the bio-fuel drive, it is increase demand from the growing middle class in China and India and so they go on. There is absolutely no doubt these factors do play a part in the increase but what is driving the prices up quicker than any other factor is undoubtedly the speculators, “non commercial traders” as they are called in the financial circles.

        Before 2007 the percentage of trading in the world’s food markets controlled by speculators was about 12%, today it is 43%. That is a lot of extra money being pushed into the food market with the result that prices start to rocket. What we are talking about is greed little people with millions scurrying around looking of ways of turning their millions into billions and they don’t give a damn of the consequences to the rest of us. The other bunch of greedy speculators that are pushing the price of food through the roof are of course the speculators in the oil futures markets. We live oil, as it its price goes up so does food transportation, fertilisers and the energy required to process that food. These two groups are holding the world’s population to ransom in their quest for ever more millions for themselves and their shareholders.

       In 2007 before the prices started to shoot up there were 800 million people on this planet who could not get enough to eat, with the daily increases in prices this figure is also shooting up dramatically. We are now hearing of food riots in countries across the globe, the speculators are starving the world in an attempt to increase their already over abundant wealth. Our political “Leaders” are meeting here and there in capitals across the world and making noises but they don’t have the muscle nor the will to control the big corporate greedy beast that is devouring our planet.

       While those government representatives are uttering vacuous mush on the subject the developed governments are subsidising one of the elements of the price increases, bio-fuel. It is stated that by 2017 40% of the maize production in the US will be for bio-fuel. This will certainly increase the speculators wealth and will certainly help keep the internal combustion engine going but will do nothing but more harm to that ever growing, starving multitude of 800 million+ .

      This is the capitalist system, it is not set in tablets of stone, it is not the only way to organise our societies, it is a man made system that fosters greed in parallel with poverty. It can be removed and a fairer and more humane system set up in its place if the people so desire."

 

       Only when we organise to finally put the parasites and their greed driven system in the dustbin of history will we ever see an end to the suffering of millions of hungry people.

ann arky's home.

500 STRIKERS ARRESTED.

         This post from LabourStart should be acted on by as many as people as possible across the world. If India as one of the worlds largest industrial areas can lock up strikers without a murmer from the rest of the world it will become the pattern. Workers conditions in the developing countries are poor to say the least, to be imprisoned for struggling to improve them must be seen as a crime. Of course history tells us, that is the way capitalism works, in partnership with the state.

 

        The arrest of one worker whose only crime was to go on strike -- that's reason enough to get angry, and to protest and campaign. But what do you do when 500 workers are arrested?

That's the situation today in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where some 500 workers have been jailed following their strike against electronics manufacturer Foxconn.

That name should ring a bell -- Foxconn's Chinese factories were the scene of a series of worker suicides earlier this year.

In the next few hours and days, we need to flood the offices of state officials with the demand that all the jailed workers be released.

Please do two things right now:

Send off your message HERE
Spread the word in your union -- let's mobilize thousands in support of this campaign! 

Thanks - and have a great weekend.   Eric Lee  LabourStart.

ann arky's home.

THEY LOOK DIFFERENT, BUT--!!!

An image from an old Black Flag magazine, Vol.VII No.3 1983.

.

                                                                                                        Future cop. 

Nice cop.                            Not nice cop.                  Nasty cop.

Found in tourist spots  Has a degree in              Enjoys brutality

and leafy suburbs        harassment, expert          found in hordes at

helps old ladies find     in leaping from vans        peaceful demos,

the Post Office.        while wielding trucheon.  being cloned rapidly.

  It is amazing that there are still people out there who think that the police are there to catch muggers and burglars and fail to see that they are the states minders. The police are the step down from the military in protecting the establishment, its wealth and its power. The little bit about protecting you from the mugger is just a sort of spin-off. It keeps them in shape for their real duty, to keep you in your place.

      The picture below is from 1984 and shows you what community policing is all about. It was taken from the magazine Black Flag Vol VII No.7 1984. It was in Armthorpe in England 22nd. August 1984, (1984 dadadada). Why were they there? Well some miners were on strike to try and save their jobs and you can't have that. Today's public sector workers be warned, that nice cop who stands outside the council offices and gives you a smile as you enter and leave, you could meet him in a different role.

      
                                                                                                                                

ann arky's home.                                                                

WE'RE BANKSTERS, WE DON'T OBEY NO STINKING LAWS.

I fell in love with this photo and headline I saw on Politics in the zeros site so I pinched them both. Hope you don't mind Bob.

         Cuts, cuts, cuts, we’re all in this together!!! Or so the crap goes. We all have to tighten our belt, family allowance cut, benefits for the chop, libraries to close, sports centres to close, council workers on the dole, education funding getting a hatchet job and back door privatisation of the health service. Yep, it is all tough going, well except if your a banker. It seems that our city friends have decided to pay themselves a nice little £7 billion bonus package. I suppose that will go some way to making up for the loss of their family allowance. Let’s not forget that we the taxpayers handed them billions of taxpayer’s money to save them going bust. They then tell us we have too much debt and we will have to pay that debt off by getting rid of most of our social services. We pay twice, they get the bonuses. Hollywood couldn’t produce a more ludicrous farce. The problem is, that it is for real. It is real people that are going to end up on the dole, it is real kids that are going to see the education being shredded, it is real communities that are going to see their already minimal social amenities trashed, it is real old people that are going to find there is no care for them, etc. etc. etc.
      The “debt” is just an excuse for the corporate world to push for the privatisation of all social services. It has always been the aim of the corporate world to get possession of all public assets, everything owned by some corporate institution and all services available at a profit to them. No profit, no services, no money, no services. You will of course still be free to appeal to some charity or other when you have needs but not enough money.
      Why do we put up with a system that benefits the top 10% or so of society and screws, plunders, and exploits the other 90% of the people? Isn’t it time we took control of our own lives and told the pampered parasite profit junkies to, go eat your money, we don’t need you or your money. We can surely organise society in a much more fair and equitable fashion based on mutual aid and sustainability, not profit. A society that sees to the needs of all our people is there for the taking, we have all the means at our disposal, all it takes is the will to organise, occupy and take control. Never accept their perpetual mantra, that capitalism is the only game in town. It is not, it is a relatively new man made system of greed, being man made it can be man destroyed. There is an alternative that does not turn man against man but seeks co-operation between all peoples and has as its aim the equal well being of all people. It is called anarchism, anarchists are simple trying to move in that direction. Seek out your local group, join them and we can move much further along that road.
 
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