THE ANARCHIST CRITIC.

  

    The latest copy of The Anarchist Critic, issue No. 92 May 2011, can be viewed and downloaded as a PDF  HERE.

ann arky's home.

REAGANITES CALLING FOR REVOLUTION!!!

   

     A voice from the inside explains how an elite group of Wall St. oligarchies are plundering the world, ripping everything they can from the poor and middle classes to protect their unearned wealth. Land grabbing in Greece, pension grabbing in Ireland with the same prescription for the rest of Europe. A Western world devoid of democracy, more or less being used as a honey pot for the very, very rich. This guy from the Reagan administration believes that revolution is the only answer to this plundering of the poor and middle classes. We know it is the only answer, where there is no democracy, and there isn't, only the people can create democracy.

ann arky's home.

A CALL FROM STOP THE WAR COALITION.

     

     Without a trace of irony, President Barack Obama -- the commander-in-chief of an empire which straddles the world, who has more than doubled the troops in Afghanistan, who continues to occupy Iraq, who has dramatically escalated a deadly drone war in Pakistan and who is currently bombing Libya -- spoke last week of the "moral force of non-violence" and said he "will not tolerate aggression across borders". (SEE Choking on the Hypocrisy of Obama's Hollow Platitudes: http://bit.ly/kBiFrl )

     Obama is currently waging three wars which are opposed by the majority of people in Britain and the United States -- in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. He has already, in his first two years in office, attacked six countries -- two more than George W Bush.

    This is why Stop the War, CND and other organisations have organised an anti-war protest at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday 24 May, at 5.30pm, when Obama is on a state visit to Britain, with bed and breakfast provided by the Queen.

    The protest will call for the withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan, an immediate end to the bombing of Libya and freedom for Palestine, which yet again was let down in Obama's speech last week by rhetoric which far outstripped any indication that he is going to do anything to stop Israel's countless violations of international law.

PROTEST WHEN OBAMA MEETS THE QUEEN
TUESDAY 24 MAY 5.30PM BUCKINGHAM PALACE
LONDON SW1A 1AA

     Called by Stop the War Coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Justice for Bahrain Campaign.

ann arky's home.

LIBRARIES OR BOMBS??

     

      While the Cameron/Clegg public school thugs shout cuts, cuts, cuts, Cameron's little Libyan war has become Cameron's killing fields. The “No-fly zone” has now escalated into a continual bombardment of Western Libya. NATO has just completed its heaviest bombardment of the city of Tripoli since the so called, “protect civilians” campaign began. How do you protect civilians in a densely populated city by heavy bombardment of weapons of mass destruction? Perhaps the citizens of Tripoli are worth less than the citizens of Benghazi.

      All this killing doesn't come cheap, oh dear no. While the millionaire duo shout, “We can't afford” social services, libraries, education, child care, etc. the bill for Cameron's violent little ego trip, is reckoned to cost around about £1 billion by the autumn. Experts state that the cost to date is around the £300-£400 million with the bill rising by about £38 million a week. A far cry from smug low life Osborne's figure which he quoted at the start of the killing that it would only be in the tens of millions. To people of his ilk, that's just pocket money, he could probably pay for that himself.

WHO NEEDS SOCIAL SERVICES?

        The true cots will not be known for some weeks yet, when the Defence Officials make their announcements. Of course all the cost will be understated as we are about to escalate this affair with the announcement that we will be now using attack helicopters. Another little very expensive military toy that we can obviously afford.

A HOSPITAL??

       Why do we tolerate “our” government spending over £1 billion in six months on the destruction of a country and the killing of its people. This continual free spending when it comes to foreign military intervention and slashing and cutting at all our social services while muttering, we can't afford, we can't afford, lays bare the unbridled hypocrisy of this millionaire cabal of public school thugs.

        This is the situation that capitalism and its bed partner, party political politics, has given us, an elite bunch of pampered parasites controlling everything and showing complete disregard for the ordinary people. However, wonderful sparks of hope keep springing up, with the latest being Madrid and some other cities in Spain. Support appearing in other cities across Europe, with the ordinary people beginning to realise their power and the growing awareness that with solidarity we can change this world. We can create a fairer and more just world freed from the capitalist greed and profit motive, we have the power to create a world we would be proud to leave to our children and our grandchildren. As the world is at the moment, being raped, plundered and polluted, all for profit for parasitical shareholders, we fear for the future of our children and our grandchildren. It doesn't have to be that way, there is an alternative, all we have to do is all come together and discuss the world we want for the future.

ann arky's home.

TAHRIR SQUARE, MADRID, EDINBURGH, ---???

      Sunday saw a large march and demonstration in Edinburgh in support of the popular uprising in Spain, you can read more and see more photos on Indymedia Scotland here are a couple of photos to start you off.

Photos from Indymedia Scotland.

     There were also demonstrations of support in other cities across Europe. Is the sleeping lion about awake and rise?

ann arky's home.

PROFIT FROM ILLNESS!!!

        The title of a recent article in the British Medical Journal should perhaps create some cause for concern. The title was, “How the Secretary of State for Health proposes to abolish the NHS in England”. There are those who shout, “scaremongering” but to any open minded individual it soon becomes obvious that it is an accurate assessment of the proposed changes to the NHS in England.

       The article states that the proposed Bill will fundamentally change the basic premise of the NHS, pointing out that the duty of the Secretary of State to provide comprehensive health care will be abolished. The government will hand over its responsibility for health care of UK citizens to commercial consortia whose primary function and driving force will be economic, seeking profit, not health and well being of the people. As commercial concerns these organisations will be governed by trade laws which mandates free competition. As commercial enterprises they are obligated by law to seek the best possible profit for the shareholders. How will that square with long term expensive care, or a quick fix as opposed to a long term cure?

NEW TEST FOR ASSESSING TREATMENT!!

      The “pause” that the Cameron/Clegg public school thugs have proposed is just that, a “pause”, not a change. I suppose the millionaire duo and their team will hope that the “pause” will let the opposition die down and then they can remove the “pause” and carry on as before.

      Calling for changes to this “privatisation” Bill is not what should be sought, it must be scrapped or we accept a national private health system, a money making paradise for the corporate greed machine, and for those who can't afford it, a second rate health system.

ann arky's home.

MADRID ECHOES THE SPIRIT OF TAHRIR SQUARE.

The following was taken from A World to Win site. Where is the rest of Europe in this "awakening"?

Madrid echoes the spirit of Tahrir Square

     The Real Democracy Now movement that has sprung up across Spain, with a main square in Madrid under occupation since Sunday, is a key moment in the developing global struggle against the failure of the political and economic status quo.    

 Drawing their inspiration from Tahrir Square in Cairo – where the Egyptian revolution began – thousands have organised themselves into a people’s assembly in Puerta del Sol to discuss a way forward. The movement, which is independent of political parties and the trade unions, used social networking sites to mobilise for the occupation.

SOLIDARITY.

      A pamphlet distributed by organisers said they "do not represent any political party” and that "we want a new society that prioritises life over economic and political interests. We advocate a change in society and social consciousness." Fabio Gándara, the spokesman for Democracia Real Ya, a 26-year-old unemployed lawyer who is studying to be a civil servant, said: "What we're denouncing is the lack of real democracy and the tendency toward a two-party system where corruption at all levels is simply scandalous.”

     

       With tents, mattresses, a kitchen, a workshop and even a pharmacy, protesters have refused to budge, defying the decision of regional election officials that they should leave the square. They have also organised their own security teams to keep order in the square. There are at least 57 so-called "Sol campsites" that have popped up across the country in solidarity. Spaniards living abroad have also set up camps outside Spain 's embassies in Berlin and London , and in Amsterdam 's Dam Square . 

       In Spain – just as it was in Tunisia and Egypt , where the Arab spring began at the start of the year – the movement is driven by the “lost generation” of educated but unemployed young people. An estimated 45% of them are without work while average unemployment at over 20% is the highest in Europe .

      They are the victims of a global capitalist recession which has devastated Spain ’s economy which floundered when a gigantic property bubble burst in 2008. And they are casualties of the post-Franco dictatorship politics too.

      

       The fascist regime was replaced by los señores Tweedledum and Tweedledee – aka the Socialist Party (PSOE) and the right-wing People’s Party (PP). Only fewer and fewer Spaniards can tell the difference between them. Both parties are endemically corrupt and have shared the role of integrating Spain into the global market-driven capitalist economy.

        One result is that Spain is close to following Ireland , Portugal and Greece in seeking a bail-out from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. That would spell not only the collapse of the eurozone but trigger a new global financial collapse.

      That is why Real Democracy Now is saying “Don’t vote for them” – the PSOE and PP – in Sunday’s regional and local elections because neither represents the interests of ordinary people. This is an astonishing indictment of a parliamentary democracy that was only established in 1977 after Franco’s death two years earlier.

      This, naturally, poses the question of if not this “democracy”, then what type of political system should replace it? The protests in Madrid , Barcelona , Seville and other cities, popularly known as M-15 as they began on May 15, have started that debate. In Sol Square there is a “democracy wall” where people have stuck hundreds of notes with their thoughts on them, declarations and statements.

     In Egypt , the dictatorship was overthrown but power remains out of reach, resting in the hands of an army that owns a large chunk of the economy. In Spain , a 35-year-old parliamentary democracy leaves real power in the hands of the corporations and banks who use politicians as a front.

      For a “real” democracy to work, it must involve the transfer of economic and financial resources into the hands of ordinary working people, alongside the replacing of the capitalist state by forms of popular power. Many took up the fight against Franco’s fascists in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s with that aim in mind. The revolution was cruelly betrayed by Stalinism and then defeated. Puerta del Sol signals a chance to put history back on course.

Paul Feldman
Communications editor
20 May 2011

Corinna Lotz
Secretary

A World to Win  07871 745258

ann arky's home.

STUFF THE BANKERS, THEY GAMBLED AND THEY LOST.

     

       First Iceland said let the banks fail and then marched some of the bankers off to jail. The Italian public are making similar noises and now Spain is saying, "we've had enough" so stuff the bankers, let them take the loses of their reckless greed. If you want to change the system you have to do something other than run out and vote every 4 or 5 years. Tunisia changed because of people on the streets, Egypt changed because of people on the streets. No political party played any part in bring about those changes, why should it be any different here. All the political parties here are saying, austerity cuts on the people, not on the bankers. They only disagree on the pace of the decimation of the standard of living of the ordinary people. The people's opinion is different, we say no cuts on the people, stuff the bankers.

ann arky's home.

WHO SHAPES THE WORLD??

  

      I would like to inform you that the recent protests against fake democracy and the broken link between politicians and citizens happening in Madrid initially have extended to London and other cities of the UK.

We are also camping in front of the Spanish Embassy in London (SW1X 8SB) and other cities in the UK.

The programme for today is:
12.00h Kick off of the Static Demonstration
19.00h Mock elections
20.00h Sauce-pan banging demonstration and camping!

It will be good if we get the support of UK protest groups.

Join the revolution.
Follow us on Democracia Real YA Londres & Democracia Real YA on Facebook

Please pass the news

ann arky's home.

THE POPE OF HOPE, THE PRINCE OF PEACE!!!

     

      The President of America, once the Pope of Hope, the man of change, is visiting the UK next week. He will be visiting the Queen at Buckingham Palace, he sure knows where the power lies in this country. Far from bringing an end to George. W. Bush's marauding wars, the man of change has lived up to his promise and changed in to a higher gear when it comes to wars and killing. Drone attacks in Pakistan have dramatically increased during his term, with the resultant massive increase in innocent deaths from these attacks. He has presided over attacks in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia and Libya and continues to occupy Afghanistan and Iraq. Remember all the euphoria when this man was elected? At last, an end to the macho war stance of George W. Bush, enter the Prince of Peace, St. Obama. Well this man of peace is spending more on military operations than any other president of America.

      His latest waft of wind to come from his mouth, the rhetoric about reaching out to the Muslim world and finding a path to peace for the Palestinians, while at the same time involved in bombing and occupying three Muslim countries. This reaching out, also involves supporting and propping up ruthless dictators across that same Muslim world, while supporting Israel in its land grabbing and genocide of the Palestinian people and supporting Israel financially and military as they flaunt countless international laws. The violence inflicted on the Palestinian people by Israel is never criticised let alone condemned by this reaching out, path way to peace, president of America.

    I always refer to Libya as Cameron's war, every prime minister and president seems to want their own war, but he couldn't have got his way without the wink and nod from the Prince of Peace, St. Obama. We in the West belong to an empire of violence, the West will bomb and occupy any country that has resources that we want if that is the best way to get those resources. We live in a world of corporate fascism. For our corporate beasts to grow they must have all those cheap resources and the states put their stamp of legitimacy on the brutal conflicts to grab what the corporate world demand.

      There is an alternative, a world free from the grip of corporate greed, a world of co-operation, mutual aid and sustainability based on the needs of all our people. A world free from the profit motive that belongs to the people, a world that we would be proud to hand to the next generation, our kids and our grand kids. A world free from the fear of exploitation and deprivation. First we have to stop looking to leaders, Popes of Hope, Princes of Peace and take control of our own lives, control our own communities and in federation with other communities take control and shape our own world. It is their world, or it is our world, there is no compromise.

ann arky's home.

TURKEY TRYING TO CRUSH ALL TRADE UNIONS.

      

      States always try to stifle any working class organisation, whether it be trade unions or community organisations that seek some sort of autonomy. If it doesn't feel too threatened then the attacks are quiet, subtle and covert, but if it feels the threat is rising, then it can become very brutal, overt and bring into use all the bruteforce of all the state apparatus. At the moment Turkey is trying to smash all working class organisation in an attempt to create a subservient workforce suitable for its corporate friends in the EU. We cannot stand by and watch the state try to crush those struggling to improve their conditions. We are all in this struggle together to survive in an exploitive corporate capitalist greed machine which is backed up by the state.

       This following message is from IUF, International Union of Food Workers,   hopefully those reading it will take the action requested.  

    

       "The Turkish government has filed criminal charges against 111 union leaders, members and supporters, which carry prison terms of up to 5 years in connection with a 2010 demonstration in Ankara. The list of those indicted by the Ankara Public Prosecutor include TEKGIDA-IS President Mustafa Turkel along with 4 other national officers and twelve branch presidents, the current and former heads of the national centre DISK, two former leaders of the public sector confederation KESK and other prominent union and social activists."

      Click HERE, to learn more and send an urgent protest message to the Turkish government.
      An injury to one is an injury to all. Are you free if your brothers and sisters are in chains?

ann arky's home.