EARTH FIRST, USA.

     
         A posting from our friends across the pond. It should be shouted from the street corners and from the roof tops, resistance to this system of capitalist exploitation, and the rape and plunder of the planet is growing day by day.

Earth First!: dancing on the tables of bureaucracy and greed for 30 years and counting


By Panagioti, co-editor of Earth First! Journal 

         Earth First! has been a pain in the ass to industrialists for over 30 years now in the US. Despite serious repression from the Green Scare over the past decade (where eco-activists have been labeled 'terorists' and threatened with life sentences for acts of sabotage) the movement of ecological direct action looks to be getting back on its feet again. The stories below gives a glimpse of this summer alone... Last week in Montana, Earth First! activists in the US stormed the Capital of Montana in resistance to new fossil fuel infrastructure  This week tree sitters halted mountaintop removal coal mining in West Virginia  Last month, a direct action campaign of indigenous activist and allies kicked off in the San Francisco Peaks of Arizona And the resistance continues:  Earlier in the summer, Earth First!ers in Maine took their case against industrial wind power clearcutting endangered species habitat to a 'criminal' trial for their road blockades of a year earlier. While some charges were dropped, and some resulted in jail sentences, their fight continues. And in Florida, forest defenders opposing the construction of a new biotech animal testing laboratory by occupying the tree canopy this spring were summonsed to court for their alleged involvement in this 6-week occupation (which has played a major part in delaying the construction thus far)  All across the US eco-resistance is back on the rise, and the trend seems to be present in several other countries as well. With the ecological crisis expanding, the need has never been greater. We intend to rise to the challenge.

P.S. Don't forget to check out the latest Earth First! Journal, for a more in-depth look at news, strategy and analysis around the world

P.P.S Don't forget to start plannin' to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of the Luddite Uprisings starting this November... 

Oh, and the Earth First! Journal may be planning a trip across the Atlantic next spring/summer. We are hoping to make a stop-over in Glasgow... So keep an eye out for us!

ann arky's home.

RAW CAPITALISM - PEASANTS BEWARE.

    

        Capitalism doesn't change it's spots, it is a system of exploitation of the many for the advantage of the few. At the end of WW2 and the existence of the Soviet Union creating a threat of Communism across Europe, and other places in the world, capitalism modified slightly. In the West it made concessions to the working class and the middle class, grants to higher education, a health service, social housing, a welfare system, to help the poorest etc.. With the collapse of the Soviet Empire and Thatcher's subsequent destruction of the trade unions, the threat of communism had gone. The need to appease the workers no longer existed. Capitalism could get back to its true form, it was time for raw capitalism with the gloves off. What we are living through is the system of capitalism mounting an all out attack on the working class and the middle class. For the majority real austerity will be the order of the day, with education an expensive luxury for the rich, a health service that will cater for those with the most money, charity your only hope of social services. Bankers, CEO and their sidekicks will live in ever increasing luxury. Our billionaire landed gentry and nobility are back in full control, peasants beware.

         Our children will be denied a decent education, without which it will be impossible to understand the complexity of the geopolitical system that is draining their lives, let alone organise to change its structure. Society will be fragmented with petty crime on the increase, communities will become ghettos. A rather frightening picture but the only out come from an unchallenged system driven by one overriding desire for profit, a system where human beings are no more than expendable resources. The gap between the ordinary people and the billionaire ruling class will be unimaginable. The answer for the majority of people on this planet does not lie in capitalism and time is of the essence.

ann arky's home.

THE PEOPLE'S FLAG.

           

The People's Flag - Part 2 (Fascism and War 1931-1945)

       This video shows how the wealthy and some royalty of this country were allegedly keen to do a deal with the Nazi fascists. Making the point that the powers that be, have no thoughts of democracy, only what will safeguard their wealth and power, they consider the people are a necessary inconvenience that has to be controlled. The beginning is a bit slow but be patient.

      Originally screened on Channel 4 television in 1987, The People's Flag is a five-part history of the British labour movement in the 20th Century. Part 2 covers the period of the Great Depression, the people's resistance to the rise of fascism and events leading up to and including World War II.

ann arky's home.

HOLIDAY AT HOME -FOR THE ECONOMY???

       

         We should be used to hearing politicians saying things to get an effect or create an impression, but not really meaning what they say. Our millionaire public school thug Cameron has just given us another example.

         The British economy must be doing very well at the moment. How do we arrive at the point of view, well by Mr. Millionaire Cameron of course, as deeds speak louder than words. For the last three years the millionaire Camerons have taken their holidays in Cornwall and last year he stated “I love going on holiday in Britain.” He also called on Britons to take their holidays at home to boost the country's economy. Well this year it seems that the country's economy no longer needs his money as he is off to some foreign spot to “get some sun”. Perhaps he feels he has done enough and it is now up to you and I to holiday at home and pull the country through. That is for those that can still afford a holiday, considering the rising fuel bills, rising inflation and the fear of losing your job.

          Don't listen to what they say, watch what they do!!!

 

ann arky's home.

A BUNG AND A CUT IN LIVING STANDARDS!!!

   

       Reading an article on the Euro/Greek problem by Matthew Parris in The Times I was struck by one phrase in particular, “Greece just needs a massive bung plus a cut in living standards”. Being a regular visitor to Greece for several months at a time, I wondered what he really meant. Who has to get the “bung” does this go to the people or does it go to the millionaire class, and whose standard of living does he think should be cut, the ordinary people, who had nothing to do with this crisis, or should the living standards of the millionaire class take the cut? What I have seen of the ordinary Greek people is a living standard that is not exactly luxurious and in some cases too close to poverty to be comfortable. These are the people that go to work every day and struggle to bring their kids up in a reasonable fashion. They were in no way involved in the shuffle betting of the banking class nor the corruption of the well heeled political class, who working together screwed the working people of Greece. I also saw plenty of large off-roaders and luxury cars. So can we get it right this time and see that the massive bung goes to the ordinary people and the cut in living standards is targeted at the banking/political class of corrupt millionaires.

ann arky's home.

SELF-REGULATION FOR THE MILLIONAIRES, HA-HA-HA.

         

         With all this News International phone-hacking crap, once again we here the pundits talking about regulation with the emphasis on “self-regulation”. Of course when it comes to regulation, the powers that be insist on complete and total regulation of the individuals like you and I, they make it quite clear what you and I can and cannot do. They lay out a set of penalties if we fail to stay with in the regulations. However, when it comes to the greed of the corporate world, whether it be banking or media, or what ever, then of course self-regulation is the only road to go. This in spite of the fact that these corporate bodies have proved time and time again that they are totally incapable of regulating their insatiable greed. Still, their bed-partners, the politicians, insist on agreeing to their wishes of leaving them to regulate their own gorging in the pig trough. The fact that most of the politicians have wealth invested with the corporate world and will look to taking their place in the frenzied gorging at a later date, has no influence on their decision. After all they are all honourable men!!! Remember the self regulating MP's expenses arrangement? They are all in it together, millionaire politicians, banking executives and media moguls, but you and I are not invited to the party.

ann arky's home.

WORKERS KNOW YOUR HISTORY - THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.

   
     In spite of the way that Russia end up after the revolution, we should not forget that it started as a social revolution and was hi-jacked by the bureaucratic Bolsheviks. There are lessons to be learnt, the revolution must stay with the people and not be allowed to be controlled by a bureaucratic party mechanism under the control of a handful of party hacks. Horizontal organisation, not hierarchic.



More workers history  films HERE.

ann arky's home.

FREEDOM PRESS AND WILDCAT.

   

  The longest running anarchist newspaper in Britain is Freedom, established in 1886. As well as fighting the sysyem for the last 125 years, publishing lots of interesting and informative articles, keeping you in touch with what anarchists are up to, it also has "Wildcat". "Wildcat" has some wonderful insights and words of wisdom, this little session is from 16 July Freedom issue Vol. 72 No. 14.

Why not get your copy of Freedom and enjoy Wildcat and keep in touch with what is going on.

ann arky's home.

WHAT IS NATO DOING IN LYBIA?

       As the Western take over of Lybia continues with more than 6,000 NATO attacks on Tripoli so far, and the Western imperialists keep mouthing noises about doing it to protect civilians, we have to ask questions. Why not Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia etc. where civilians are being killed on a daily basis? Why did the West support this particular uprising? The information coming out of Libya doesn't show them as a democratic group. There are reports of them moving into towns and villages and  "cleansing" them of "black" Libyans. These are Libyans who found themselves there because of Libya's previous connection with the slave trade. There have also been reports of looting as they enter towns and villages. Hardly the actions of a movement driven by the desire for true democracy.

The following extract is taken from The Commune and the full article can be read HERE.

       Joe Thorne looks at the evidence, and draws some conclusions.

Libyan Proverb "The calamity of a people is beneficial to others"

             The NATO powers are not intervening in Syria or Bahrain, where pro-democracy movements are also subject to brutal suppression. They did not intervene in Gaza during Cast Lead, or in Tamil Eelam during the offensive which wiped out thousands of Tamils. While millions of dollars are spent on cruise missiles and aerial bombing, UNICEF, the same powers in their guise as protectors of children, say they are worried that because of insufficient resources to deal with famine “65,000 children in Kenya alone are at acute risk of dying.” Indeed, “Britain trained and equipped some of the Libyan special forces who inflicted such horrors on cities like Misrata. Western states continue to train Saudi forces, and this may well have much the same effect.”

We don’t need to labour the point: the NATO powers are not ‘humanitarians’, their motives are not ‘humanitarian’, and what they do has nothing to do with the defence of human life. Could it be the case that their malign motives are a given, but the objective outcome of their policy may nonetheless be welcome? It was not the case in Kosovo or Iraq. The point of reminding ourselves of NATO’s hypocrisy is not just that they are hypocrites: it is to understand how the specific, very much non-humanitarian, objectives of the NATO powers will play out in their actual policy in the coming weeks, months, and years.

ann arky's home.

POLITICIANS' MOMENT OF GLORY!!!

          No doubt the political class that lords it over us will milk the Murdoch Mafia sewer saga for all it is worth. They will of course play the role of “poor victim”, they will fly the flag of moral outrage, utter many a tut-tut as they shake their heads uttering “disgraceful”. There will be a mighty attempt to raise their reputation from the gutter where it was thrown by the public.

        What we should not forget is that for years they prostrated themselves before, wined, dined and climbed into bed with the Mafia Mogul and his lieutenants. They were not unaware of the methods used by their bedmates, as little snippets appeared now and then only to disappear in the cesspool they inhabited.

By John Hartfiels.

 

       Our political master had no intention of rocking the boat for fear of incurring the wrath of their Mogul Master and being cast out of the lucrative incestuous relationship. Yes I do believe they are all part and parcel of the same family. It takes two to tango!!!

I have a working relationship with the press.

 

       Think, what has this bunch of duplicitous, self seeking, backside licking millionaire parasites ever done for the ordinary people of this country? What would be our loss if they all drowned and disappeared in the depth of their own cesspool? For a start, we would all breathe a fresher air.

        We keep them in the lap of luxury, we suffer because of their actions, we certainly don't need them, so why do we continue to carry them on our backs? We are perfectly capable of organising and shaping our communities to the benefit of all our people, in federation with all other communities. Or are we saying, we don't know how to organise and control our own lives, we need a greedy leader with a bunch of greedy sidekicks and their grand plan??

 

ann arky's home.

THE PINNACLE OF CAPITALISM - EAT OR HEAT!!!

         More misery as the millionaire cabal of public school thugs continue their onslaught against the living conditions of the ordinary people of this country with their “austerity cuts”. While we, the people who actually create all the wealth of the country, are facing wage freezes, wage cuts and decimation of all social services etc. the corporate world, in the shape of the energy companies, are putting the boot in. Fuel poverty is of epidemic proportions, thanks to their greed in seeking ever greater profits. During the period from 1996 to 2003, fuel poverty fell from a staggering 6.5 million people to approximately 2 million. However, from 2004 to 2009 the cost of domestic electricity rose by 75% and gas by 122%. So with falling incomes and rising prices we now find that the figures for fuel poverty for 2009 rose by 1 million to an unacceptable 5.5 million. That accounts for approximately 22% of the population.

        We know that since 2009 the price of domestic electricity and gas has risen several times, so who knows where the figures will be by now. On top of this domestic electricity is set to increase by 12% and gas by 18% come August. Another fact that should concern us is that fuel poverty tends to hit the most vulnerable in our society, the elderly, children, disabled and the long term ill, plus, 50% of fuel poor are over the age of 60.

What do you want --mince or a heat?

 

        This is a picture of one of the richest countries in the world. A country at the forefront of developed capitalism. We can rest assured that if we stick with present system things will not get any better.

         In any civilised society we should not be faced with the decision, do we eat, or do we heat. No one in a civilised country should die in their home from hypothermia because they couldn't afford the heat. A civilised society must have social services, not a system whereby the corporate world owns and controls everything, and sells it at a profit to those that can afford to pay and to hell with those who can't.

        Fuel poverty will only be eradicated when we take control of society and shape it to serve the needs of all our people, rather than serving the greed of a pack of parasitical shareholders.

ann arky's home.

THE TORTURE OF TRADE UNIONISTS.

     

      As we here in the West struggle with the repression and exploitation inflicted on us by corporate capitalism, let's not forget those in the developing world who suffer  far more harsh exploitation and a far more brutal repression, sometimes even death for doing what we do,  fight for a better life. This brutality takes place on a daily basis across countless countries, below is just one more of this sickening onslaught against ordinary people, another case of brutal repression to safeguard the wealth and power of that toxic, festering marriage of state and corporate capitalism.

Solidarity.

       Basile Mahan Gahé, general secretary of the national trade union center Dignité (whose food and hotel section is affiliated to the IUF) has been transferred from detention in Abidjan to a prison in Boundiali, where he is reportedly only given one meal a day. The trade union leader was kidnapped from his Abidjan home on May 26 and held without charges. Amnesty International believes it has credible reports that he was tortured, particularly in the early days of his detention.

       On June 2, he was visited by an ILO mission which included Mody Guiro, ITUC African regional president/ITUC vice-president. For the mission, Gahé was transferred from his police cell to the Hotel Pergola (transformed into a detention center). The mission over, the prosecutor brought charges - reportedly involving sedition and armed action against the state. - and had him transferred on July 9 to the remote location in the northeast.

We all need a hand.

      Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has repeatedly called for national reconciliation - yet a trade union leader is being illegally held without charges. All of the country's trade union organizations, other national and international trade union organizations have called for his release. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner at risk of torture.

       Act now! - click here to send a message to President Ouattara (with copies to Ivory Coast embassies in France and Belgium) calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Basile Mahan Gahé.

Ron Oswald.

General Secretary, IUF.

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)

8, rampe du Pont-Rouge
1213 Petit Lancy, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 793 22 33
Fax: +41 22 793 22 38
web-site: http://www.iuf.org/

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MURDER OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS.

       Here in the West we tend to take trade union activity for granted. Agreed we do get hassle in many forms but we never expect to be murdered because our trade union activity. However, the same corporate capitalist system that exists here works hand in glove with violence across the globe. In most developing countries you can and do, face threats, intimidation, beatings and death, simply for standing up for your human rights.Today, in the 21 century, ordinary working people are being murder because the want a decent standard of living, that's corporate capitalism and the state working hand in hand, it is corporate fascism.

       This is an appeal from Labour Start.

Guatemala: End the murders of human rights defenders

        Idar Joel Hernandez Godoy, treasurer of the central executive committee of SITRABI, the banana workers union, was gunned down in cold blood on May 26, less than two months after the murder of another of his comrades, Oscar González Vázquez. SITRABI is calling for international solidarity as they demand justice. Guatemala is now sadly the second most dangerous country in the world in which to be a trade unionist. (Colombia is the first.) According to the latest annual survey of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), 10 trade union activists were killed in Guatemala in 2010 and 10 further killings have been reported so far in 2011. Learn more and send off your message here:

http://www.makefruitfair.org.uk/get-involved/appeals/guatemala-end-murders

Thank you!

ann arky's home.

MURDOCH MAFIA SEWER.

   

         As the Murdoch Mafia sewer continues to spew out its toxic dogshit we start to get a better picture of how our political system works. It would seem that the necessary constituents for our “democracy” to function are bent cops that sell information to journalists, reporters that bribe police, officials and hack into phones and computers. The final part of this morally defunct system is the fawning politicians, eager to get into bed with and prostrate themselves before a greed driven media mogul who sits at the top of this pile of shit. He sets the political agenda, his scumbag media Mafia exerts the pressure and the subservient politicians push it through for fear of being out of favour with the mighty mogul and being forced of the gravy train.

       This then is British “representative democracy” a cesspool of duplicitous, greedy arrogant individuals hell bent on seeing to their own ends and screwing the public for all they are worth. Where in all this charade is there anything that is for the benefit of the ordinary people? Where are the benefits for all those who daily grind out an existence, the ones that create all the wealth and carry out all the services in our society? What has this bunch of low-life ever done other than gather up their millions and grasp at power for the own ends. Who needs them? Who wants them? The power they have over us is simple our refusal to use the power we hold ourselves. We are governed by consent, it is about time we withdrew that consent and used our power to create a world that will see to the needs of all our people. As system freed from the profit motive based on mutual aid, sustainability and mutual respect.

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