WE NEED MORE GLASGOW ANARCHISTS.

Glasgow Anarchists, January 1st. 1915.        

       Anarchism has a long history in our city, its ideas taking root in Glasgow in the late 1800’s and since then the popularity of its ideas has risen and fallen in waves depending on the changing conditions in our society, but the ideas behind the name have never left our city. Ever since the late 1800’s anarchists have been at the forefront of all the battles of the ordinary people of our city as they struggle for a better life, They have been involved in these struggles in a positive and selfless manner putting forward ideas and giving physical support, always helping the people to achieve what they were fighting for, never for the benefit of some political party or political career.

         The people of Glasgow can be proud of their history of struggle, it stretches back to the dawn of our city. There have been great victories, for example the 1915 rent strike, the poll tax, etc. and sometimes crushing defeats but the struggle continues. The city has its legion of heroes to be proud of, some who have stood astride the political scene like a colossus, others who have struggled endlessly in the shadows, and there have been those individuals who have been crushed by the system we live under.

        Today more than ever we need to come together as a class to defend our own people against the coming increase in poverty, unemployment, repossessions, cuts in social services, etc. The party political system has shown itself to be part of the problem, not the answer. It is grass roots people based direct action that will change this society into one that sees to the needs of all our people, based on mutual aid, and brings about equality, justice and sustainability.

 
Glasgow's working class history HERE.
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VICIOUS LIES FROM GREEDY, VICIOUS LIARS.

       As the well manicured twins from the millionaires’ club down at the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption go ahead with the financial world’s plans to decimate the living standards of the working class, they are still, without laughing, muttering that blatant lie “we are all in this together” You and I are looking at a massive rise in unemployment, savage cuts to social spending, cuts in benefits, a shattered education system, reduced pensions, working longer to to get that lousy pension, if you have a job at all, and on top of that they are now about to rip apart the health service and turn it into a market governed grouping of private enterprises, in other words the privatisation of our health service. They are about to create a society where if you want something you buy it, at a profit to some corporate body. Of course if you can’t afford it then you do without and that will apply to health, education and special needs plus a host of other things that a civilised society should provide. While we, the ordinary people, are supposed to take this, the friends of this millionaire cabinet are still laughing all the way to the bank. For example, last year a certain Mr Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, faced the burden of austerity with an £8 million pay package, his previous year's earnings. Another of the millionaire cabinet’s friends who is in this with us is Marc Bolland of Marks & Spencer’s his contract could net him approximately £15 million for the following year's pay check. As you can see, we are all in this together.

        The most blatant lie about this whole affair is the fact that they keep repeating, “there is no alternative” what shit, and it is ideological shit at that. This is the biggest handover of public assets to the private sector that we have ever seen. You and I and any member of the working class know that we could create a society that would see to the needs of all our people, we know we have the ability, imagination and resources to create a society free from the profit motive, based on mutual aid and sustainability. We know we do not need that army of pampered, well manicured parasites that rip us off day and daily. We, the working class, are facing what is probably one of the biggest challenges that has arisen in capitalism, we now have the ability to organise across the whole of the European continent on an almost instantaneous basis. What is happening in this country is happening across Europe, it is a united attack by the financial institutions of corporate capitalism, it surely makes sense that we should respond with a united attack on those institutions that aim to destroy our already meagre standard of living. Local strikes, marches and demonstrations can be ignored and dealt with without too much trouble to the system. However a national general strike would be a different matter and much more difficult for the system to handle, a pan-European general strike would be impossible for the system to cope with, and would be our opportunity to restructure society to our aims based on that fair and universally desire, of a society free from the fear of deprivation and exploitation.

 

 

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A SLAVE BY ANY OTHER NAME.

      Did the West really abolish slavery, or did it merely re-label and re-package the concept? Are those who have to sell their labour power really just selling their skills or are they selling themselves? Can you separate the skills from the person, therefore, as an employee are you free?

Carole Pateman points out the implications of the employment contract in her book The Sexual Contract:

       Capacities or labour power cannot be used without the worker using his will, his understanding and experience, to put them into effect. The use of labour power requires the presence of its “owner,” and it remains as mere potential until he acts in the manner necessary to put it into use, or agrees or is compelled so to act; that is, the worker must labour. To contract for the use of labour power is a waste of resources unless it can be used in the way in which the new owner requires. The fiction “labour power” cannot be used; what is required is that the worker labours as demanded. The employment contract must, therefore, create a relationship of command and obedience between employer and worker.... In short, the contract in which the worker allegedly sells his labour power is a contract in which, since he cannot be separated from his capacities, he sells command over the use of his body and himself. To obtain the right to the use of another is to be a (civil) master. [1]

[1]Carole Pateman, The Sexual Contract (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988), pp. 150-151.

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SAVE YOUR LIBRARIES.

        The cuts being bulldozed throughout the country by the Cameron/Clegg public school thugs will, as we all know, devastate the social fabric of our society. One of the services that will be decimated will be the libraries. Up and down the country 400 libraries are earmarked for closure. Of course who will this hit the hardest, why those who don't have fat bank books. Resistance is growing against what these cuts are doing to our communities, and tomorrow, Saturday 5th February, there is a national day of protest across the country. In Edinburgh, Scottish writers and illustrators will lead an organised protest in the city to hand in a petition to the Scottish Parliament at 11am.

      

 The petition reads;

"To: The First Minister and all Members of the Scottish parliament

        We would like to protest at the widespread cuts to the library service taking place throughout Scotland.

In addition to the promotion of knowledge, literacy, and information retrieval skills, a professionally delivered library service embeds the joy of reading in our young people, building self awareness, articulate self expression, confidence, validating their life and culture, and leads to social and emotional literacy.

       In a society experiencing a widening gap in household incomes, our libraries, in the great tradition on which they were first inaugurated and enshrined in the law of the land, provide access for all.

       The cuts to book budgets, library opening hours, mobile services, branches, and the drastic and unnecessary deletion of professional posts strike at those most in need of a library service and those least able to protest against the cuts in that service - the less affluent, the elderly, the frail, people who are challenged mentally and physically and their carers, those who look after babies and toddlers and, crucially, our children - who are our future."

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WORKERS KNOW YOUR HISTORY-- GLASGOW CITY OF REBELLION.

         From the days of Wallace, Scotland has always had a revolutionary movement. At one time fighting for religious liberty, at another for political equality, more recently for economic and industrial freedom and freedom of the individual. In all of this Glasgow has always played an important part and been home to radical reform movements.

Trongate, Glasgow 1919.           

                                           

1706-THE UNION.

       Glasgow gained in wealth because of the Union, when its tobacco trade rapidly expanded and later the sugar and cotton trades. Surplus wealth began flowing into mining, textile, iron and railway industries. By 1885 ten Scots firms produced 20% of Britain’s steel output. After 1870 the Clyde replaced the Thames as the centre of British shipbuilding, and this, in association with the expanding railway and heavy engineering industries in Glasgow, created a new force, the 'Industrial Working Class'. By 1892 two thirds of all Trade Unionists in Scotland worked in Glasgow. Rebels of Glasgow and the West of Scotland shared the problems of the Northern English industrial population and also shared the hopes of the English Radical Reformers.

1706 - AGAINST THE UNION.

       In spite of this the Union was not universally accepted throughout the country. Glasgow saw popular but violent reaction to this arrangement. On one occasion a large crowd lead by Finly and Montgomery took control of the Bishop’s House. The local forces could not remove them and the Dragoons were called from Edinburgh to dislodge them. Finly and Montgomery were duly arrested. The crowd took it upon itself to seize the City’s Magistrates and dispatched a few of them to Edinburgh with the strictest mandate to obtain the release of the prisoners. However the Privy Council in Edinburgh rejected the request and sent the Magistrates back to Glasgow with the instruction to take better control of their city.

JUNE 1725 - THE MALT TAX RIOTS.

      Due to the gross dislike of the 'Malt Tax' there were wide spread riots across the country. The most serious of these was June 1725 in Glasgow. When Revenue Officers arrived to assess the Maltsters, they were met by large angry crowds who barred their way. On June the 24th a large crowd decided to attack the house of Duncan Campbell of Shawfield believing that he had supported the tax in the Houses of Parliament. The angry scenes prompted the Lord Advocate Duncan Forbes to call in troops from Edinburgh. The Provost was not in agreement with this decision and refused to use them against the rioters. However the crowd, unhappy with the presence of the troops attacked them. The troops retaliated, at first with powder and then with shot. This resulted in the death of 8 civilians. The Provost ordered the troops to withdraw. The Magistrates spent most of their time investigating the civilian deaths rather than pursuing the leaders of the attack on Shawfield House. It was obvious that the town council had no more love of the 'malt tax' than the angry crowds. Their thoughts would also be on the fact that they had to live in the city after the massacre by the troops. The Lord Advocate somewhat alarmed at the events in the city went himself to Glasgow and arrested the City Magistrates and took them to Edinburgh. There was a failed prosecution of the Magistrates in Edinburgh and they returned to their City of Glasgow to a boisterous welcome from the crowd.

15th FEBRUARY 1800.

        Unemployment and high taxes during this period caused wide spread demonstrations which culminated on the 15th. of February 1800 when angry and hungry crowds took to the streets. They marched along Argyle Street attacking meatsellers and grocers’ shops. Meanwhile vast crowds in the districts of Townhead and Calton were also smashing into similar types of shops. The authorities felt compelled to call out the troops to disperse the rioters.

1812 WEAVERS STRIKE.

         1812 saw in Scotland until that date. The weavers were on strike in an attempt to protect their living standards. The strike was on the whole a peaceful protest, though the Magistrates and the Government claimed otherwise in an attempt to become heavy handed with the strikers. The strike lasted three months and eventually run out of funds and collapsed. Because of this strike Trade Unionism was declared illegal in Scotland and remained so until 1824. Seven of the strikers were arrested and charged with 'illegal combination' and were each sentenced to 18 months in prison.

6th MARCH 1848

        There was a serious riot in the city of Glasgow on the 6th of March 1848. It came about when the unemployed operatives had expected a distribution of provisions. The provisions never appeared and the starving and angry crowds set off up Irongate and other main streets of the city centre breaking into food and gun shops. Business in the city came to a stand-still and all city centre shops closed. The people continued to march through the streets shouting 'bread or revolution'. Eventually the 'riot act' was read. Other groups marched off in other directions entering food shops and demanding bread. The authorities, alarmed at the events sent to Edinburgh for more troops. The following day crowds again gathered at Bridgeton where 'out-pensioners' were under arms. A young boy threw an object at the troops and was arrested but the crowd stormed the arresting group and rescued the boy. Police Superintendent, Captain Smart gave the order to fire: five of the crowd were shot. The Military continued to patrol the streets and the crowd still lined the streets for some days. All public offices were securely guarded.

1915 RENT STRIKES

         1915 saw Glasgow and Clydeside districts gripped by a massive grass roots movement against large rent increases imposed by landlords. Over 25,000 tenants refused to pay rent increases. The struggle spread to the Clydeside engineering workshops and shipyards, forcing the government to introduce the 1915 Rent Restriction Act.

1919 'FORTY HOUR WEEK’ STRIKE.

        In 1919 the struggle for a shorter working week came to a head with a strike which had the support of practically all the workers in the area. Marches and demonstrations were organised. One massive demonstration in George Square caused the authorities some concern and the police baton charged the crowd creating mayhem. The government fearing revolution sent English troops with tanks into the city.

George Square, Glasgow 1919

More on Glasgow's working class history HERE. 

ann arky's home.

DOES WORK REALLY WORK???

            An extract from an interesting article called Does Work Really Work. by, L. Susuan Brown, the full article can be found at THE ANARCHIST LIBRARY.  It would be interesting to know your opinions on this one.

           One of the first questions people often ask when they are introduced to one another in our society is “what do you do?” This is more than just polite small talk — it is an indication of the immense importance work has for us. Work gives us a place in the world, it is our identity, it defines us, and, ultimately, it confines us. Witness the psychic dislocation when we lose our jobs, when we are fired, laid off, forced to retire or when We fail to get the job we applied for in the first place. An unemployed person is defined not in positive but in negative terms: to be unemployed is to lack work. To lack work is to be socialIy and economically marginalized, To answer “nothing” to the question “what do you do?” is emotionally difficult and socially unacceptable. Most unemployed people would rather answer such a question with vague replies like “I’m between contracts” or “I have a few resumes out and the prospects look promising” than admit outright that they do not work. For to not work in our society is to lack social significance — it is to be a nothing, because nothing is what you do.

          Those who do work (and they are becoming less numerous as our economies slowly disintegrate) are something — they are teachers, nurses, doctors, factory workers, machinists, dental assistants, coaches, librarians, secretaries, bus drivers and so on. They have identities defined by what they do. They are considered normal productive members of our society. Legally their work is considered to be subject to an employment contract, which if not explicitly laid out at the beginning of employment is implicitly understood to be part of the relationship between employee and employer. The employment contract is based on the idea that it is possible for a fair exchange to occur between an employee who trades her/his skills and labour for wages supplied by the employer. Such an idea presupposes that a person’s skills and labour are not inseparable from them, but are rather separate attributes that can be treated like property to be bought and sold. The employment contract assumes that a machinist or an exotic dancer, for instance, have the capacity to separate out from themselves the particular elements that are required by the employer and are then able to enter into an agreement with the employer to exchange only those attributes for money. The machinist is able to sell technical skills while the exotic dancer is able to sell sexual appeal, and, according to the employment contract, they both do so without selling themselves as people. Political scientists and economists refer to such attributes as “property in the person,” and speak about a person’s ability to contract out labour power in the form of property in the person.

ann arky's home.

SUPPORT THE OCCUPATION.

A statement from those occupying  the Heartherington Research Club at Glasgow University. It is up to the students and supporters to use the space and support their efforts in keeping alive this valuable asset.

SUPPORT THE OCCUPATION

Students have reclaimed the Heatherington Research Club- the post-graduate club which was forced to close last year due to finance problems.

University management refused to bail out the club, nor accept a new finance plan. We have taken the building as a last ditch effort to save it for Glasgow's students. The HRC has been lying empty for a full year now, and we think we can put it to better use.

We want the building to be a space for people across the city to utilise in the struggle against cuts and austerity. And we want it to be a safe non-commercial space for students of Glasgow Uni - for socialising, for education and for engaging with the movement against cuts and fees, both on our campus and across the city.

It's your space --- get involved.

For updates follow;

twitter.com/glasgowoccupied

"glasgow uni occupied" on facebook.

ann arky's home.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE---.

     

      It seems that our lords and masters, the millionaires at the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption have decided that we should all have water meters fitted. Hard lines on all those pensioners that like their garden and wander around in the evening lovingly watering their blooms. Also, what about those ,and there are millions of them, families on low incomes with a couple of kids spread across the country in cities like Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester and all those rural poor, in this green and pleasant land? Economic necessity may mean that you all take a bath together, there's a lot of water in a bath. Of course to our millionaire public school thugs, it won't make one little bit of difference, they'll probably just sign another standing order. However it should make a lot of money for the meter manufacturers, fitters and water companies. Of course it will be you and I that will pay for it all, as usual. Do you want a meter? Did you ask for a meter?Ah, the beauty of our democracy.

        I would suggest that all the local communities should organise to stop this extra burden being heaped on the poorest of our communities at a time of wage cuts/freezes, increase VAT, increase unemployment and benefit cuts. Water is the most basic of all human needs and clean water is essential from a health point of view. Anything that hinders your access to clean water is an attack on your health and well being and should not be tolerated in any society, least of all a very rich and developed country. Don't be conned into thinking this is not a very, very rich country, we can spend billions on arms bills and fight wars on the other side of the planet and carry a bunch of pampered parasites on our back. Think of all those resources being transferred to the community, instead of being used to destroy, kill and maim working class people in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is our country, let's start to shape to our benefit, get the parasites off our back.

 

ann arky's home.

MARCH FOR THE ALTERNATIVE.

      The alternative being a society based on mutual aid that sees to the needs of all those in that society, a society freed from the profit motive and founded on sustainability.
    The planned government spending cuts will decimate public services and put more than 1 million out of work. They will hit the most vulnerable, damage communities and undermine much that holds us together as a society. By raising £4 through cuts to every pound raised through tax, most of this through VAT, which hits the poorest and those on middle incomes hardest, is nothing short of class war. This recession was a product of the finance sector, yet the banks and the parasites responsible are now enjoying massive bonuses, and not being asked to make their fair contribution, but then again, that's capitalism.

The TUC has organised a demonstration for the 26th March in London, if you value our social services, do your damnedest to be there to show your anger. Of course we should not be marching to ask for a better deal from our lords and masters, the parasitical millionaires. We should be marching to bring about the alternative to this corporate greed feast and change society forever in our favour, bringing down this unfair, exploitative system of profit before people. See your local TUC for travel arrangements, organise your own arrangements with your own group, pensioners, students, public sector workers, unemployed, etc. help make this the biggest demonstration of public anger that this country has ever seen. If however you can't make it down to London you should be organising a similar type of demonstration in your local area. Glaswegians should be heading to George Square to put their anger on display for all to see. If you will not be at any of the demonstrations, at least take the day off.

       We cannot stand by and be plundered by the corporate world, aided and abetted by the millionaire public school thugs at the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption. Make no mistake, this decimation of our welfare system to protect the parasites that inhabit the bond markets is class war. They will continue to plunder all our public assets, driving us back to Victorian poverty, until we put a halt to this unfair system of greed.

Pledge your support here-  
 
   We have almost a couple of months to swell the numbers beyond anything ever seen before in Britain 

 
ann arky's home.

FOR SALE- - - UK, COMES WITH CHEAP LABOUR.

        The Con/Dem millionaire club of public school thugs are about to carry out the greatest con trick since the start of capitalism. They are about to pass legislation to allow for the sell-off of the woodlands that are under the control of the forestry commission. This is vast tracts of forests that are owned by the British people and they will go on offer to the highest bidder. How come that a bunch of millionaires can take a slice of Britain and sell it to their millionaire friends and say it is legal because they made the laws to make it so. How come we are not seeing “peasants with pitchforks” marching on the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption. However the biggest part of this con is the fact that they have stated that local councils can bid for the forests. So let's look at that proposal, these forests belong to the British people and the Con/Dem millionaires are saying that the local councils, who represent the people, can use the local peoples money to buy the land that already belongs to the British people. We are expected to buy our own forests from ourselves with our taxpayers money. Now that is a real con, it is so absurd and far fetch that most people probably don't complain because they think that they must have heard it wrong.

        Make no mistake, the UK is up for sale, every public asset will, before the next election, be sold off to their millionaire friends. That is if it can make a profit for them, if it can't, it will be left for the public to look after. This is happening across the globe, post offices, public land, waterways, water systems and all public, social and health services, all to be transferred to the millionaires' club. What is more it is forever, as far as they are concerned, and has nothing to do with cutting the deficit or any other crap that they try to feed you, that is just one of their excuses.

       No government was voted in to sell off public assets to their friends, but that's what they are doing. Is there still anybody out there that thinks that the government is there to represent the people? Surely by now it should be blatantly obvious that they are there to represent and protect the wealth of their friends the millionaires in the corporate world.

       We don't need them, they need us, to feed of our backs, and keep them in their parasitical pampered life style.

 

ann arky's home.

TEAPOT SOUVENIR.

       There are those who say that the old songs are the best songs, well perhaps we can say the same about the old political leaflets. Recently I came across an old, probably from the 80's, very small booklet measuring just 75mm x105mm and 8 pages with a small illustration on each page, produced by the Anarchist Teapot Collective in Brighton. In spite of illustrations on each page, it said a lot, so much so that I have decide to reprint it and hand it out on the street.
      Below is the front cover, I'll try to print a page from the booklet every so often, let me know what you think of them.

 Your Anarchist Teapot

Souvenir

Introduction to

Anarchy.

For too long have we given up our pleasure for

the sake of production and development, Those

who want to maintain the arrangement appear

to have a great power over us, but this is just

cheap art. It is you and I who have maintained

this by performing our tasks on a daily basis, It

is you and I who can do away with this.

To be continued.

 

ann arky's home.

CITIZENS UNITED - AGAINST THE CUTS.

CITIZENS UNITED

AGAINST CUTS TO PUBLIC SERVICES

WHO ARE WE - WE ARE YOU!

We are you. we are any group of citizens who get together and fight back against injustice, in this case the massive attack by this Con/Dem government on the welfare state and the working class.

WHAT WE BELIEVE.

We believe in "Direct Action" to get change. That we as citizens, are best plkaced to decide what kind of country WE live in. Real democracy is us, together,making ALL the decisions for ourselves, every day.

WHAT WE DO.

We "OCCUPY" to protest, to advocate a better way to highlight issues, to confront the institutions that have become more important than people. We encourage other citizens to consider this as a means of resistance in all communities.

WHAT WE WANT.

We want to see wide-spread "COMMUNITY RESISTANCE" across Scotland, to stop closures, protect services, fight poverty and inequality. Let's bring people together, to help each other, defend our communities!!!

JOIN US!

START YOUR OWN GROUP!

TOGETHER WE WIN!

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

HOW TO START YOUR OWN GROUP?

HOW TO DO "DIRECT ACTION"?

WHO'S NEAR YOU, WHAT'S HAPPENING LOCALLY?

Check us out at: http://citizensunitedagainstcuts.wordpress.com

Email us at: citizensunitedagainstcuts@gmail.com

Or phone: 07948 010959

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BEST ACTOR AWARD!!!!

     I know it's a week or so late but I just couldn't resist this one, I nicked it from that wonderful vibrant bunch at SchNews

       The only reason he is not playing at the Royal Shakespeare Company is he is far too expensive. In all honesty we shouldn't pock fun at him, he is far too dangerous and should be taken more seriously, like for example through a war crimes tribunal.

ann arky's home.

BENT COPS!!!

      

         With all the revelations about police infiltrating protest groups and indulging in some “shady” behaviour which could be interpreted as provocative, entrapment and encouraging criminal acts, it comes as no surprise to find that other cops have also been doing a wee bit of freelance work on the side.

After a freedom of information request it has come to light that in Scotland since January 2009, 40 Scottish police officers have been convicted of a criminal offence. Strathclyde Police Force comes out at the top of the leader board with 30 police officers convicted of 35 criminal offences which included, driving offences, breaches of the peace and assault. The colourful range of offences also included convictions under the Misuse of Firearms Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act and let's not forget convictions for attempting to pervert the course of justice. Quite a catalogue of crimes for those supposed to uphold and protect the rule of law and order, however what surprised me most was the fact that Strathclyde Police stated that ONE officer had been dismissed as a result of a conviction???

ann arky's home.

CORPORATE FASCISM.

Cartoon by Peter Brookes.

        The latest figures state that the UK economy shrunk by 0.5% in the last quarter. Everybody shakes their head and says, dreadful figures, but our millionaire Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, says it was all down to the snow and the government will not be blown of course and change its plans. Of course they won't change their plans, why should they? Is there still anybody out there who believes that these "fair cuts" have anything to do with the economy, the deficit, growth or any of the other crap these public school thugs spout? Whether the economy grows, shrinks or stands still, their “austerity cuts” plan will continue, that's because their grand plan is to transfer all public assets into private hands and cutting all social spending is their method. This means that everything you want or do will return a profit to some corporate body or other. Send your kids to the library, well only if you can afford it, take a walk in the forest, well not for long, as they are about to be sold off to those who can afford them, ie. the big corporations. After the implementation of the millionaire cabal's plans we will be a society of profit units or surplus to requirements. We will have no control on how our society is shaped, no redress against those in control, everything will be privately owned and run for profit.

       We have to see through the smoke and mirrors of this bunch of thuggish parasites, they are about to change our society beyond recognition and totally for the benefit of their millionaire friends, it is such a massive shift of power and that's why it is so difficult for some people to grasp. These changes are forever, as far as they are concerned, once we have lost control of all public assets the struggle to take them back could be long and brutal, but get them back we must, otherwise we will be living in a society of true corporate fascism.

ann arky's home.

BIG BROTHER, IS HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE!!!

   

       A very interesting article from that great activists news website Schnews. Like the article says, we should not be surprised at what the establishment will do to crush dissent. It will incriminate, vilify, intimidate, discourage and place under constant surveillance all those who dare to raise their voices in disagreement with the establishment's grand plans. Though we should not be surprised it is good to see it all coming out for general public viewing, perhaps giving others a better view of what lies lurking beneath that ever so thin shiny veneer of respectability worn by our political masters.

     Power and wealth is in the grasp of the elite parasites and they will do what ever they deem necessary to make sure it stays there. The last thing they want is for the people who actually create all that wealth, the working class, to share it out fairly among all those in society. They have a complex apparatus all set up to ensure that the wealth and power is kept in the hands of the pampered parasite class of millionaire thugs.

        

 GOVERNMENT AGENCY CAUGHT INFILTRATING ACTIVIST MEDIA OUTLET

         “No - stuff that - SHUT the place: Let’s not all stand around like lemmings - lets shut the place!Bring ladders and wire cutters. If there are enough of us we can shut it!” - a pretty average comment on Indymedia you might think - if a little gung-ho. In fact it was posted there by the police - and SchNEWS has the proof.

         For the benefit of anyone who’s been hiding in a hole wearing a tinfoil hat for the last fortnight (i.e most of our readership), it turns out that the U.K direct action/anarchist/environmental movement was infiltrated for number of years by undercover police. At least four cops have already been outed and its safe to assume there may be more. But while the mainstream media has focussed on the sleazy antics and dodgy love lives of these professional liars, SchNEWS can reveal that police attempts to disrupt our movement goes much further than a few unshaven plants in grubby t-shirts, and includes attacks on activist media and communications. For years now, police have been using activist website Indymedia in attempts to sow mistrust, demoralise movements and to incite violence and illegality.

IP FREELY

          Police postings came to light following an internal investigation on persistent disinformation being published to Indymedia UK. Technically Indymedia is supposed to safeguard it’s posters by not logging IP addresses. In actual fact there are IP filters. Although IP addresses are only stored temporarily, those of persistent abusers are kept in order to prevent the site from being overwhelmed. Moderators of Indymedia UK identified the Gateway-303 server as being the source of numerous such posts. A filter was set up to capture the behaviour of the individual(s) who were hiding behind the server.

          One IP address so identified was 62.25.109.196 , which correlates with the server gateway303.energis.gsi.gov.uk. There are similar servers, gateway-301 & gateway-302 with IP addresses 62.25.109.194 and 62.25.109.195 respectively. Other servers identified are gateway-101, gateway-202, gateway-201, etc

         GSI stands for Government Secure Intranet. It is a network established by the UK Government to allow secure transfer of files across its computers. The Police National Network is separate from it, but can connect to it. Currently GSI is operated by Energis, a UK based internet company now owned by Cable & Wireless.

       It is clear from the consistency of the usage of gateway-303 server that the IPs are probably assigned to particular premises or else specific units within the UK Government. One of the purposes of the GSI network is to provide a secure proxy network behind which users can maintain their anonymity. Hence the lack of solid information as to exactly who is behind the postings. However, SchNEWS is gonna take a stab in the dark (if only) as to who they are; in fact some actually signed NETCU. Of course it could be the old double bluff, but given the level of intelligence behind some of the postings even this level of sophistication seems unlikely.

INDY-SCRIBABLE

           Indymedia is a key tool in activist organisation and communication. Given the overtly political nature of the site and the types of news stories published it is hardly a surprise that it attracts weirdos with strange axes to grind. Its open publishing format has left it wide open to trolling, spam and, of course, state / police abuse. This abuse has mostly taken the form of posting comments under a variety of pseudonyms.

           These postings have targeted individual activists, put out information about activists that is not in the public domain, attacked campaigns, and urged the disruption of peaceful protests. Many comment on (then) ongoing court cases. Some are just personal abuse directed at well-known activists, while others contain information only known to the police. Two postings - made on 21st Jan and 9th Jun 2010 - provide personal details, including mobile numbers, of potential targets for the animal rights movement, one a fur-shop in Leeds, the other the owner of an animal circus. What the motivations were for posting these details can only be surmised. But off the record we reckon it’s blatant attempt at entrapment.

       As part of the activist scene, SchNEWS isn’t quite as shocked as elements of the mainstream media have been about the cops’ sleazy abuse of personal friendships to disrupt the organisation of alternative social movements. It’s long been the case that to be an activist you’ve got to get used the idea of surveillance (both covert and overt), violence from the state and the deliberate silencing of voices. The antics of Kennedy, Watson, Jacobs and Boyling are just part of a tactical bag of tricks including kettling, the use of F.I.T teams and spotter cards, anti-stalking injunctions, spreading rumours in the mainstream press and a constant stream of new laws criminalising dissent (See SchNEWS 1-754). To that list we can now add infiltration of the core platform for anti-authoritarian radical media activism in the UK.

        From a brief analysis of the activities of the undercovers it seems that their mission was as much to disrupt as much as it was to gather information. Attacks on our movements by disruption are a handy weapon in the state’s arsenal with no need for actual evidence or convictions.

 

PLAINLY INCITE

        The targets of the fake Indymedia postings span the activist spectrum, from anti-fascists to anti-militarists, but have been most concerned with environmental campaigns and, in particular the Animal Rights movement. On April 27th, 2010, a comment appeared on the Indymedia UK newswire entitled Don’t use SPEAK as a model. The comment, on an article entitled New animal lab at Leicester; New nationwide campaign to start urged readers to respond to the campaign by “Model[ling] the campaign on a successful AR campaign such as Hillgrove cats or Darnley Oaks etc” (sic). Those familiar with those campaigns will be aware that they campaigns are alleged to have included violent actions against individuals. Other postings referenced a what appears to be an entirely fictitious new AR campaign in Leicester – Stop Leicester Animal Cruelty. SLAC (ha bloody ha)

          It should be remembered corporations seeking injunctions under the Protection from Harassment Act (link) have relied heavily on comments made on Indymedia as evidence. This act has been used against campaigns such as Smash EDO to criminalise all forms of dissent targeting specific companies, even entirely peaceful and completely legal protest.

          As a whole the comments build a bewildering picture of a campaign of disparagement, incitement and support, together with wry asides and outright attempts at demoralisation. A few really stand out as obvious incitement to illegality while some are so bizarre that we can’t work out if they are part of a sinister master plan to bring down the whole activist scene - or just the ramblings of bored coppers with faces full of doughnuts and nothing better to do.

         More on this HERE.

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SCHOOL OF AMERICAS - SCHOOL OF ASSASSINS.

School of Americas.

      Many of its graduates have been implicated in serious human rights abuses and manuals used at the school appear to condone if not promote the use of torture. This has resulted in a grassroots human rights campaign to close the SOA, led by the organization SOA Watch. Activists opposed to the SOA often refer to the school as the "School of Assassins" and the "School of Coups." 

       Abuses SOA graduates have alleged to have committed include "the death or disappearance of 200,000 Guatemalans and innumerable other atrocities... In Colombia 2 million have been displaced and thousands are still reliving the horrors of their torture - not surprising since, with 10,000 graduates from the SOA, Colombia is the school's largest customer and has the worst human rights record on the continent."

Dear SOA Watchers,

…on the 5th day the mail arrived! And, oh my it was good. So many people wrote wonderful words of support and encouragement. I was just astounded by the wealth that just fell on me!

     I’m in a dorm of 32 women, 4 to a room, with double-bunk beds. The facility here at Ocilla (GA) is clean, modern, warm (most of the time) with lots of heavy doors that bang shut throughout 24 hours. Food is inexcusably bad, but it comes regularly 3 times a day and a vegetarian like myself can usually trade the (what passes for) meat for (what passes for) vegetables.

     The next stop will be a transfer to a federal prison. Or not. Some of the women have been here for over a year and expect they might just serve their full sentence here. Or not. And it’s the not knowing that keeps everyone on edge. The stories are heart breaking to hear; many get in trouble through drugs, pills or because their boyfriends committed an offence. Many have small children at home, no financial resources, no job skills, no support system, no education, and some face very long sentences. Hold them in your heart; light a candle for them. They need you very badly.

    There is a common room for the women in this unit, metal tables with attached benches, a TV set and microwave. The ceiling is very high and gives the feeling that we’re underground. There are three space openings leading up to small skylights. That’s our only glimpse of what’s outside. I saw a small beam of sunlight this morning.

     I talk about SOA all the time. Because I’m such an oddity here, many want to know what I did to get here and I tell them. They are horrified of course, when they hear what SOA graduates have done and we have some good conversations about governments and abuse of power.

       And we also joke a lot, sitting around laughing, passing the time. You may be interested to know that I’m developing a southern accent. Not good enough to pass, but I’m working on it. One of my room mates says if I let my hair grow out a bit, she will braid it for me (corn rows?)

Great warm hugs to you all, wherever you are.

Nancy.

You can write to Nancy at:

NANCY H. SMITH #7059
IRWIN COUNTY DETENTION CENTER
132 COTTON DRIVE
OCILLA, GA 31774

School of Americas Watch, PRESENTE.
 
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CORPORATE HEALTH SERVICE!!!

         

       As all the establishment figures debate the NHS “reforms” all the arguments are around, too much, too fast and too deep. None of the notables entering the debate even hint at the real problem with these “reforms”. What is actually happening is the privatisation of the health service. GPs control the finance, they will have to select services from a variety of “providers” among these will be the big corporations, who no doubt will work hard at undercutting here and there, just to get their feet in the door, and then the usual corporate rip-off. Hospitals will be obliged to open their doors to private “providers” and those hospitals that don't make a profit will have no alternative but to close. Competing ambulance services all trying to make a profit, instead of one efficient ambulance service properly funded. The GPs will be bound to get what is normally called “best value for money”, after all they can't be seen to be wasting money by buying care from a dearer source when big brother corporate world is there offering a cheaper version. By the time of the next election there will be no NHS as we know it, it will be a complete free market affair similar to the American system. If you have the money you'll get the care you need, if you have good insurance, well you'll be OK. However if you fall into the category of the ordinary person and have a long term illness, well you'll simply be away down the list. After all what profit making concern wants a load of people that need expensive long term treatment, there's no profit in that. Perhaps the charities will help out. Welcome to 21 century Victorian Britain.

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BLAIR'S WAR - BLAIR'S LIES.

Protest 21st January 8am Queen Elizabeth 2nd Centre, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster, SW1P3EE

http://stopwar.org.uk/content/view/2217/1/

         Tony Blair is back in front of the Chilcot inquiry. The hearing comes against a background of the statement from his chief legal adviser which effectively says that Blair ignored his advice over the legality of the Iraq war. Lord Goldsmith, who was attorney general in the Blair government, has said that he felt uncomfortable with Blair's public statements in the run up to war.

It is clear that Blair had a strategy of not asking for legal advice from his legal adviser, trying to avoid it being put in writing, and in general ensuring that he heard nothing which might hold him back in his determination to follow George Bush into the war.

        Blair deliberately went to war despite knowing that the lawyers thought the war was not legal. He is now giving evidence for a second time at Chilcot, to try to explain the discrepancies between his original evidence and that of Goldsmith.

      Stop the War, along with CND and BMI, is calling a demonstration outside the Chilcot inquiry this Friday, 21st January, at 8 am. We are asking everyone who can be there to attend. He is scheduled to be in the hearing from 9.30 to 2pm but there is now talk of him being there all day because of this latest statement. We would especially encourage people to come from 8 till 10.30, but there will be people there for the duration of the hearing.

Other things you can do to highlight Blair's lies:
1. Call a local protest/set up a STW stall on Friday if you can't make it to Westminster.

2. Hold a meeting on Truth and lies about Iraq - we can help find speakers for you.

3. Donate to Stop the War to help our campaigning, and take out a direct debit/membership to contribute to our work over the coming year

Protest 21st January 8am Queen Elizabeth 2nd Centre, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster, SW1P3EE

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WORKERS KNOW YOUR HISTORY - GLASGOW.

GLASGOW'S RADICAL WOMEN:       JANE HAMILTON PATRICK, 1884-1971.

EARLY YEARS.

            Jenny Patrick, as she was known, was born in Glasgow in February 1884. Her father had a “Ladies Costumier” shop in Sauchiehall Street, the family lived in nearby Garnethill. Jenny’s mother died in childbirth, and her father married almost immediately. Her stepmother did not treat Jenny the same as her own, she would dress her own in finery and Jenny in cast-offs. Jenny left Garnethill School at 14 and started work with a printer in St. Vincent Street Glasgow, as a copy-holder. At 16 she became a typesetter and later was employed as a printer by a footwear company. Jenny joined the Glasgow Anarchist Group, in 1914, and became secretary in 1916. After the 1914/18 war the Glasgow Anarchists, Jenny with them, joined with the Communists of Guy Aldred’s group and in 1920 the group was renamed the Glasgow Communist Group. This group had three branches in Glasgow, Central, Springburn and Shettleston, there was also an association with other groups in Lanarkshire. In 1921 these groups were coming together to form an Anti-Parliamentary Federation which would have its own new newspaper called “The Red Commune”, Jenny Patrick would be the secretary. The new paper appeared on the 1st. of February this was before the new group had been formally finalised. The Anti-parliamentary Communist Federation came into being at Easter 1921 and Jenny was a founded member.

ARREST AND PRISON.

             On the 2nd of March, Guy Aldred was arrested in London and a police raid on Bakunin House in Glasgow saw Jenny Patrick arrested with Douglas McLeish, a group member and a printer named Andrew Fleming. All four made a formal appearance before the Sheriff on the 7th of March 1921 and were remanded in custody for a fortnight before appearing before the Lord Justice Clark. Andrew Fleming was released on £200 bail, Jenny Patrick and Douglas McLeish on bail of £150 each and Guy Aldred was remanded in custody. until the case against them came up for a hearing on Tuesday the 21st of June, 1921, at the Glasgow High Court. The indictment covered eight pages and involved charges of urging anti-parliamentary action, employing a Sinn Fein tactic and conspiracy to cause disaffection among the populace. The trial lasted two days and received wide publicity in the press. The jury took a only a few minutes to return a verdict of “Guilty”. Lord Skerrington passed sentences of Guy Aldred one year, Douglas McLeish, three months, Jenny Patrick, three months, Andrew Fleming, three months and a fine of £50 or another three months. Aldred and McLeish were taken to Barlinnie Prison, Fleming and Jenny Patrick were taken to Duke Street Prison.

DISOWNED.

               When Jenny came out of prison her family disowned her and she moved into Bakunin House. When Guy Aldred was released from prison there had been a split between himself and his partner for a number of years, Rose Witcop. Rose returned to London to continue with her family planning campaign while Guy remained at Bakunin House in Glasgow. Rose Witcop died in 1932 aged forty two. Jenny and Guy moved into a tenement flat in Baliol Street Glasgow, became partners and remained so until his death in 1963. Although Jenny Patrick did not approve of Guy’s Parliamentary Election tactics she continued to support him in all his campaigns.

SPANISH CIVIL WAR.

                July 1936 saw the start of the Spanish Civil War and an upsurge in political activity among the socialist groups in support of the Spanish workers and their struggle. The Glasgow Anarchists were asked to send a representative to Barcelona, but in fact sent two. Ethel MacDonald went as the Glasgow Anarchist representative and Jenny Patrick as the representative of the Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation. Both women, with very little money, left for Spain on the 20th. of October 1936. they reached Paris with one franc between them. Jenny and Ethel with no papers and only the help of comrades, hitch-hiked across France and eventually reach Spain. Ethel was sent to Barcelona, Jenny to Madrid to the Ministry of Information, where she served with the CNT-FAI’s Comite de Defense, editing the English edition of their paper Frente Libertario, there she experienced the siege of Madrid. In 1937 she moved to Barcelona in charge of CNT’s English radio bulletin.. While there Jenny and Ethel experienced the momentous May Days. Her eye-witness accounts of the Communist Party counter revolutionary conspiracy against the Anarchists were rushed into print in Glasgow by Guy Aldred in a special Barcelona Bulletin. Both Jenny and Ethel, while in Barcelona, helped to fill the soldiers clips with bullets and gather information . She returned to Glasgow on May the 20th. 1937, Ethel remained until November 1937.

STRICKLAND PRESS.

              After returning from Spain, Jenny joined with Guy Aldred, Ethel McDonald and John Caldwell in setting up the Strickland Press in 1939 at 104-106 George Street Glasgow. Her experience as a printer was invaluable, among other jobs she set up the headlines, something she had done since her days as a young woman. For 25 years Jenny with others worked long wageless hours, printing socialist and anarchist literature, notably the USM’s The Word, In 1945 due to a dispute with the Scottish Typographical Association the work could not be contracted out, Jenny and Ethel did the typesetting themselves.

DEATH.

            Jenny a small woman, she was respected for her dynamic personality and persistent and courageous character. She never sought the limelight, but endured poverty and hardship for the sake of her anarchist principles. A few years after Guy’s death she became ill and very frail and was nursed at her home in Baliol Street by John Taylor Caldwell, a comrade of long standing. Eventually she had to be moved to hospital where she died a few days later, Jane Hamilton Patrick was cremated at Maryhill Crematorium where John Taylor Caldwell said the tribute, sadly only a handful of mourners were present.

More of Glasgow's working class history HERE.

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