STAFF TIPS GOING ASTRAY.

        The over the top opulence that our herd of pampered parasites live, is only possible by an army of low paid individuals trying to earn their bread. No matter how luxurious the lives of the parasites, those that manage this obscenity, still try to fiddle the workers out of their legitimate rights. To them greed is seen as a necessary prerequisite to their way of life and subservience a necessary prerequisite for the workers.

This from IUF:

      Guests at the Hilton Conrad Rangali Islands Resort in Maldives pay 1,000 dollars a night to stay in luxury villas located on two private islands, where they can choose from "seven world class restaurants including the world's first all-glass undersea restaurant serving contemporary cuisine". "For the ultimate dining experience" guests can order a private beach dinner with their own chef and waiter. But conditions are less than luxurious for the workers who serve them.

    Last year, some 350 workers held a peaceful work stoppage to highlight their longstanding demand for a clear reckoning of the service charge which makes up a crucial l part of their pay. Management responded by terminating union supporters - and refuses to comply with a court order ordering the resort to reinstate them.

Click here to send a message calling on Hilton management to reinstate these 22 workers who stood up for their rights and recognize their union!

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: www.iuf.org

ann arky's home.

EXARCHIA ATHENS.

From Anarchistnews.org

Exarchia — the Hell’s Kitchen of Athens

        Historical stronghold of anarchists in the heart of Athens, the square has become a thermometer of Greek society during the crisis. Among the artists’ squats and trendy youth dropping by to breathe the air of protest, trafficking and violence are growing.

      The Albanian is a legitimate businessman today, and the young girl from the wealthy neighborhood of Ekali has grown into a little troublemaker. The good old anarchist sending the pseudo-revolutionary neophytes back to their studies, the Cypriot hotelier who becomes the best friend of Japanese tourists, and the former prisoner now an organiser of cultural events can all be found around Exarchia Square, a rallying point for the capital’s youth come by to savour the myth of the square, which a PASOK [Greece’s socialist party] chief wants to turn into a parking lot.

       In the heart of Athens, by day the square, like a snake shedding its skin, turns into something else, a mix of races, of shops opening and closing (thanks to Molotov cocktails, of course), watching over its restaurants, the Rozalia tavern and the Floral, and even the Riviera cinema. Not to mention its two kiosks, the statue of the lovers and two or three other things. A visit late in the day can confirm that the crisis has left its marks, but it can also reveal what never changes about Exarchia, the most restive neighbourhood in Greece ever since the fall of the dictatorship and even warned of as such by the U.S. State Department.

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

A NEW GARDEN IN THE CITY.

          A city is a desert unless the people cultivate it, one way to cultivate your city is for the people to come together  and create those spaces that allow us to be who we are. Spaces where we can be creative, relax and communicate with each other, speak of our desires and hopes, free from the constraints placed upon us by the rigorous structures of our economic system. In other words, we need "social centres".

Social Centres

      Social Centres, at their best, are at once spaces of disruption and creation. They disrupt the everyday, everywhere, ‘canny get the feck away from it,insidious nature of both capitalist and state relations, by creating alternatives to them. You know the process: say the right things; wear the right clothes; tick the right boxes. All life made knowable: our ideas, our aspirations, our communities inscribed, made stable, mobile, comparable, combinable and ultimately sellable. Social centres are about imperfect experimentations in de-commodifying our lives through listening, learning, agitating, laughing and so much more.

The Glasgow Social Centre

      The Glasgow Social Centre (GSC) is a non-profit volunteer run cooperative, which brings together a diversity of groups and individuals in the creation of a safe, comfortable space, open to all members of the community for the purpose of community education, action and creativity on issues of social and environmental justice and the arts. We endeavor to support and enhance groups taking action to protect and improve our environment and communities by providing a hub of activity in the form of workshops, performance and general meeting space. We strive to benefit the lives of people in Glasgow through our commitment to community education, nutrition and the arts. In short, as active Glaswegians, we wish to take a proactive role in creating a positive, healthy and sustainable city.

Achievements thus far

    The GSC came together in December 2008 as a group of people from a wide range of backgrounds wanting to make a positive impact on their urban landscapes. From the beginning we envisaged a space in the city which would act as a hub for all manner of community group activities: A place where a variety of social, cultural, political and environmental bodies might congregate to share and galvanize existing ideas as well as create new possibilities.

     From August 2009 to January 2010 we ran a pilot project in a space we shared with the African and Caribbean Network (A&CN) in Glasgow city centre for an agreed six months period. This allowed us to gain some purchase on our limitations and plan our project more effectively, based on real experiences. We completely renovated the space from an abandoned factory building to an operational community space in little over one month with few funds other than small personal contributions. For the next five months we hosted and ran workshops, fundraisers, artist and performance events and galleries. In addition we raised funds and promoted awareness on issues such as the Haiti Earthquake and sustainable city living.

    Over the last two years we’ve been doing much of the same in various locations around the city. We call these ‘Pop-Up Centres’. Events have included a Direct Action workshop; a Common Land and Resources Awareness Workshop; a Roller skating Disco and the odd gig or two.

Today

     Beginning this October we embark on a series of workshops and socials in the Basement of the Garnethill Multicultural centre (Rose St) every Tuesday (6-10pm).

  These include a fortnightly film club showing a range of documentaries and movies and a monthly women’s group. We will also be organizing a few wee socials on Fridays at the same venue (we’ll keep u posted).

Current Schedule (More To be Announced):

ann arky's home.

 

A HIDDEN SLAUGHTER.

     A more detailed article on the brutal deaths of thousands of Palestinians 30 years ago at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. We should never allow this savage massacre to be airbrushed out of history.

This from US Palestinian Community Network:

     On this day, 30 years ago, the soil of Lebanon was quenched with the blood of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese. It is said that chrysanthemums burst out of the earth at the place where martyrs’ blood flows. In the year 2012, however, no chrysanthemums are blooming in Sabra and Shatila. This bloody crime on the hands of the Israeli state, its US funder, its Lebanese proxy forces and the complicit Arab regimes that created the conditions for the massacre of 1982, is carefully skirted, quietly spun and wrapped in a cloak of silence. We are asked to forget our people or confuse the events surrounding their sudden disappearance; we are invited to debate these matters as a subject for narratives, disputes and counter narratives.

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

MORE BULLSHIT FROM AN EXPENSIVE SUIT.

       As a rule, every time a politician opens their mouth there is a mixture of bullshit, arrogance and ignorance. The flag carrier for a “compassionate capitalism” the Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, is no exception. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph he said he had nothing against the rich, as long as they made their money, “the hard way”. This of course perpetuates the myth that in this society all you have to do to get rich is work hard. Well Ed, my father was a miner all his life and worked extremely hard. He never took a holiday, in those days the mines closed for the “Fair Holidays” but they always needed a crew to go down the mine on a daily basis during the holidays to check on gas, flooding and roof collapses. My dad took that job year after year. I don't know of anybody who worked harder, he didn't drink nor gamble, but we were poor, we never got rich. Get wise Ed, to get rich in this type of society you have to exploit people somewhere along the line, hard work doesn't get you rich. Another bullshit outpouring from Ed, during his interview was, "My dad was sceptical of all the Thatcher aspirational stuff, but I felt you sort of had to recognise that what she was talking about struck a chord. I want to save capitalism from itself," so Ed is one of those, “there is no such thing as society, only individuals” What he and Thatcher considers “aspirational stuff” is just an unleashing of personal greed and to hell with the community. A society of “me” “I” and “what can I screw from this deal”. Ed also wants to “save capitalism from itself”, well, please Ed don't bother wasting your time, it can't be turned into a nice compassionate system where we are all rewarded for our efforts. Don't bother trying to save capitalism from it self, it is a lost cause, capitalism is exploitation, capitalism is corruption, capitalism is injustice. You and your “fairer capitalism” bunch are perpetuating a system the breeds deprivation, corruption and greed, there is no way you can build a fair society on those foundations. Ed you and your bullshitting mob are the problem, get out of the way and let the people control their own communities and society in a non-capitalist way.

 ann arky's home.

YOUR ENEMY WON'T SPEARD YOUR MESSAGE.

     The pattern is the same the world over, they talk of the "free press" but what the mean is that it's free of any really critical political action or ideas. Free press really means state mouthpiece, or corporate propaganda machine. The media is 100% behind the status quo, it is no more than a babbling brook of bullshit. So no wonder the left grouping SYRIZA, in Greece is finding it hard to get a voice, if they have to rely on that cesspool of corruption to promote their ideas and aims, they are doomed. They have to stay on the streets, reach out through networking sites, indymedia, direct action, meetings, mass leafleting and assemblies. Hard work, but there is no other way.

Graphic, by John Hartfield.

This from Teacher Dude's Grill and BBQ:

      For fans of signs and omens the sudden end of summer and onset of rainy weather that accompanied the arrival in Greece's second largest city of the leader of the Radical left Coalition, Alexis Tsipras probably made perfect sense. The sudden chill in Thessaloniki seems to be a fitting metaphor for his relationship with the press as SYRIZA has an uphill battle on their hands trying to get the party's message out in the face of intense mainstream media hostility. With most of the traditional media joined at the hip to more mainstream parties such as New Democracy and PASOK  Tsipras has no natural allies in the media, whose members often play a dual role of journalist and party supporter, an incestuous set - up that has hobbled objective reporting for decades.

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

GLASGOW SOLIDARITY NETWORK MEETING.

A Glasgow date for your diary:

• • Thursday, 20 September 2012
  • 18:30 until 21:00

• Rm 709, Boyd Orr Building (University of Glasgow), University Gardens, G12 8QQ

• This is a talk and organising workshop by visiting members of SeaSol, the Seattle Solidarity Network; SeaSol is an all-volunteer network of working people from Seattle who defend themselves against bosses and landlords through collective action and mutual support. Come and learn about what they do, how they do it, and how we can go about organising in the same way to defend ourselves against exploitation in Glasgow. Formed at the start of this year, the Glasgow Solidarity Network seeks to do just this, through the same processes of collective and direct action. Hosted by Glasgow Solidarity Network & Clydeside IWW. For Further Info on SeaSol - http://seasol.net/ Glasgow Solidarity Network - http://glasgowsolnet.wordpress.com/   ann arky's home.

EVICTION OF DELTA SQUAT.

        Delta Squat in Thessaloníki was a large social centre run by the local people and offered opportunities for all manner of social functions, workshops, art, music, dance and discussions. it was a meeting place where people could come together to support one and other, it served the local people well. Disregarding its usefulness to the local people and their desire to keep it functioning, the Greek state brutally closed it down. So you have to ask yourself, why would they want to shut down that which served the people well? Obviously the the state can't let people organise their own lives, if that happened we wouldn't need the state. So it will come down hard on those who choose to organise their own lives outside the repressive system under which we live. The state's life blood is control, autonomy and liberty are its death knell.

 This from Void Mirror:

       letter from the imprisoned comrades before the trial takes part. The trial finished today. 9 comrades released with accusations and 1 probably will be deported from Greece... please send us translations in your languages or links with actions of solidarity.

        We all live in an economic politic system, tightly closed and illiberal, which defends with every way the interests of the bosses, every kind, of overhead.

       On the other side of the scale, there are the oppressed, all who face daily the problem of survival. The biggest part of the society, a few hundred million, are on the limits of poverty, receives daily attack from the small class of the bosses, with their protectors of their wealth, their command applicators, the state and the authority. Especially the last years, with the new economic crisis invented by the bosses, which is nothing but an obvious restructuring and re-accumulation of wealth for their benefit, and an attempt of total control of every aspect of society, more and more people find themselves in a desperate situation and they decide to take their lives in their hands.

      So they decide to create unmediated social structures, away from the coercive logic of capitalism and the relationships which defined by money.

Continue reading HERE: 

ann arky's home.

PENALISED FOR WORKING PART-TIME.

       It would appear that Ian Duncan Smith's own advisory committee, the Social Security Advisory Committee, (SSAC) has stated that his universal credit reforms are unworkable and unfair. It seems that our very rich Ian wants to penalise part-time workers, that don't look for more work often enough, It also is part of his plan to penalise those on part-time work by cutting their benefits, if they don't take up a “better” job, within 48 hours of being told to do so by by a job centre. They could also see there benefits cut if they refuse to take up full time work that is with 90 minutes of their home. It would appear that to this bunch of pampered parasites, one and a half hours travelling to and from your work, for what will probably be a minimum wage, is fair, three hours onto your working day for poverty wages is how they see the plebs living their lives. This country has 8.1 million part-time workers and when asked, almost one and a half million would prefer full time work but can't get it. So those 8.1 million are the ones likely to see their benefit cut in an economic climate where there are no full time jobs to be had. We all know that is “unfair” but to the Ian Duncan Smiths of this world it is all about saving money and to hell with the consequences on the people. This mob of pampered parasites don't know what it is to live under this capitalist system, they have always existed in the rarefied atmosphere of wealth and the arrogance, privilege, security and opportunities that it brings.Who needs them to tell us how to live our lives?

ann arky's home.

AN ANNIVESARY OF STATE SPONSORED BLOOD SHED.

       Anniversaries are usually pleasant things, though some may be sad, but there are those that fill you with anger, disgust and horror. September 16 is one such anniversary. Thirty years ago on September 16th 1982 under the protection of the Israeli Army the Phalange, Lebanese Christian Militia entered the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Chatile. What followed was a brutal blood bath of innocent Palestinians. Three days of rape and slaughter with hundreds of cold blooded executions. To assist their Phalange executioners, the Israeli Army, lit up the night sky above the camps with flares. At the end of their three days blood feast 1,700 Palestinians were dead, and the Phalange walked out of the camps unhindered in any way by the Israeli Army. No international court, no war criminals at the Hague, though the Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, lost his job over the affair, but later was rewarded by being made Prime Minister of Israel. Three nights of rape, killing, terror and brutality, watched over and assisted by a state's military and nobody brought to justice. As you say, "they got away with it", so no doubt that made it easier for the Israeli Army in 2008/9 to invade Gaza and kill another multitude of young Palestinians. Again, "they got away with it". These are just a couple of the fiendish tricks that states get up to in their daily power games, slaughter people all for the great good of that institution of repression. I believe in this case, the word I'm searching for is genocide.

 

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PATRIOTISM.

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,

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

held aloft by some foolish hand

inciting worker and peasant to kill

on some green and wooded hill,

peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag

that brings out fools to stand and brag

of brutal deeds painted grand,

deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still

killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation

this man made autocratic creation

that divides my brothers in a world so small,

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

bids us follow its drum, sing its song,

then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

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

have no ear for power oration,

though its iron heel is on my breast,

my back feels its leather thong,

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

ann arky's home.

PUBLIC ART.

It's nice to see the kids make use of their art lessons after school.

Graphic thanks to Critical Art.

ann arky's home.

THE TIPPING POINT.

       As people across Europe realise that the "austerity" cuts have not yet reached their full intensity and that there are no plans to reverse this direction, what then? As the poverty sinks in and the pain grows in depth and breadth, will it be quiet acquiescence and a grudging acceptance of deprivation for ourselves and future generations, while the millionaire parasites play their frivolous  lives out in opulence? Will there be a tipping point when the people see the injustice clearly and say enough is enough? Will we reclaim the world for our children and grandchildren leaving them an inheritance that we can be proud of, an inheritance of justice and mutual aid, a sustainable world of peace and co-operation. How do we get there? By asking our lords and masters for a handful more crumbs to see us through the winter, or by taking control of our communities and shaping them to our desires in federation with all other like minded communities. Do we negotiate with the financial Mafia who have only one aim, to plunder the Earth for profit, or do we see them as the root cause of our problem and get rid of them? Do work for the total liberation from, and destruction of, this brutal corrupt system of capitalism by whatever means at our disposal, or do we just hope for the best? 

This from ContraInfo:

THE NOISE IN THE STREET #1
       If they asked us in what way we would like the world to work, we would affirm that we would like that we implement mutual aid, collaboration, collectivisation and self-management, but we think that at the moment a progressive change is impossible and will not happen alone. We must create a situation that creates a change. While people mutter, “this is difficult to believe”, in the streets we see that the police, paid by the tax-payers, and already militarised, tortures and kills our comrades. We have decided since some time to amplify our range of tactics to the use of direct action using sabotage, expropriation and the use of force if we need it for self-defence. We do not consider it as the only possible path but believe this radically increases the possibilities of change. We are currently seeing the growth of affinity groups in our city that show there is light at the end of the tunnel, along with attempts to revive various Federations and talks on the best methods for organizing ourself.

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

PRIVATE OR PUBLIC -- WHOSE WORLD WILL IT BE?

        The latest move by the Greek government to appease the financial Mafia makes it obvious that this whole austerity thing is nothing really to do with debt reduction. The Greek government has a very profitable 34% stake in one of Europe's largest gambling companies OPAP, so one would imagine that it should hold on to that and use the profits to help fund its services. But no, to try to impress their masters in Brussels, they have decided to sell most of its money making share to the corporate greed mongers and allow them to reap the profits instead of the public. More and more of the public assets will be handed over to the corporate greed machine, and this is not just in Greece. It is the grand plan of the financial Mafia, not just in Europe, but across the world, to get its hands on all public assets to swell its coffers, and put an end for once and for all to anything being publicly owned or managed. 

         In this country the privatisation goes on unabated, with Gove breaking up the education system and Lansley being fired for not moving fast enough in the privatisation of the National Health Service. We are rapidly moving into a society where there will be no public assets and no public space, It will be a corporate world, everything will be under the control of those shiny suits in far away places, and their only criteria will be profit. The world as we know it will have gone and we will be mere products to be used or discarded as the various Chief Executives decide the best policies for their shareholders. They'll continue to shuffle their money around the globe in an attempt to keep down wage costs and fatten the bank accounts of the little army of parasitic shareholders.

        Of course there is another world, a world where we share the resources and see to the needs of all our people. a world where we work in co-operation with one and other, creating a rich and sustainable future for our children and grandchildren. A world based on mutual aid where all those involved in that world shape that world, a world free from the profit motive and the greed of those corporate parasites that infest our world at present, a world free from capitalism.

TOMORROW’S WORLD!!

See the fat cat’s grinning smile

as Corporate Capitalism runs amok,

Chasing profit as it goes

firing millions of ordinary folk.

Raping and polluting land after land,

starting bloody wars.

Toxic waste, sweat shop wages

and oil covered sea shores.

Where have all the flowers gone

beneath this ozone free sky?

To join the birds, to join the fox

on yonder plutonium field to die.

Mercury fish, strontium lamb

trees that never show a leaf,

radio active beaches, toxic streams

good lean BSE-antibiotic beef.

In a world of epidemic, plague and famine

it’s bottled water and chemical food.

Of course, it’s all tested on rats and mice

so you know its got to be good.

Beneath a sky that’s always black,

hurricane winds and endless drought,

its oxygen masks for the toxic air,

corporate profit’s what its all about. 

ann arky's home.

IF NOT NOW ----- WHEN? IF NOT US ----- WHO?

THERE WILL COME A TIME.

There will come a time when the hordes remember,

who bound our grand-parents to the yoke of oppression,

who sentenced our parents to deprivation,

who bid poverty sink its teeth into our heart,

who teach our children, greed is a noble art.

Who sent our sons through the gates of hell

to a litany of cambist brawls,

crammed coffers with blood-stained gold

while laughing in Ares' halls.

"Who does these terrible things to us?" they will ask,

and when they remember,

they'll bring an energy that is endless

to drive a fist that is fearless.

Then this merciless market-driven world will crumble

under an insurrection of integrity,

the poor will emerge from the dark husk of capitalism

to live in the light of social justice.

There will come a time when the hordes remember.

        As the states across Europe stride ever further to the right and fascism shows it vile face from behind the tenuous illusion of democracy, and we live the hardship of financial corporatism's actions of plunder of the public purse, do we meekly accept this financial serfdom or strike out for justice and liberty to control our own lives? There are two questions that need to be answered now, and answered honestly and sincerely.

      "Fear and embarrassment should give their position to daring and
decisiveness, anger should give birth to storms of rage and each one
should ask their heart, if not now... when? if not us... who?"
-Excerpt from a communique of the Conspiracy Cells of Fire

ann arky's home.

IT IS ONE BIG JOINED UP STRUGGLE.

      The world is rapidly changing, no longer are we involved in isolated struggles in our own backyard. We have a world vision, through the means of modern communication we are a joined-up struggle, it is no longer the boss-man, it is the world corporate system that we see as the enemy. We can support and show solidarity across the planet as we see the struggle unfold, we can relate each struggle to our own struggle, it is one gigantic struggle for freedom, justice and sustainability. Anger and resistance is growing, we gain strength from knowing others are struggling with us for the same aims, that makes victory all the more certain. 

This from AdBusters:

Look at what's happening in Quebec ... the boldness of the media democracy movement in Mexico ... the teenagers leading an education revolt in Chile ... the Pussy Riot inspired art war unnerving Putin in Russia ... and the new post-capitalist ways of living being forged in Greece and Spain. Witness the growing tempo of green riots across China, the South African miner strikes, the corruption protests of India, the freedom fight in Bahrain, the tremors of dissent in Saudi Arabia, the total loss of confidence in America's corporate-funded Coke-Pepsi election show. Then, add to that the crippling droughts, looming food scarcity, the end of easy oil and the tipping points hovering ominously on the horizon ...

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

SMILING FASCISTS IN EXPENSIVE SUITS.

     The corporate beast is working hard at cementing its grip over our lives, it already holds tremendous sway over most elected governments with its financial clout. But they want to go even further and create what would be one massive corporate fascist regime, they want to over rule any legislation they deem hinders their plunder and rape of the planet. Legislation might be for the benefit and welfare of the people, but if it gets in the way of their sacred profits, then it will be over-ridden. New fascism doesn't come marching down the streets in jackboots, it sits in plush offices dressed in expensive suits, but it is just as brutal and ruthless. We ignore it at our peril. 

This from AVAAZ: 

Dear friends,

We have four days to stop a top-secret global corporate power grab that attacks everything from a free Internet to environmental protections. This agreement is being negotiated right now by bureaucrats backed by corporate lobbyists. Click below to crash their secret meeting with our global call to kill the TPP deal:

    Details are leaking of a top-secret, global corporate power grab of breathtaking scope -- attacking everything from a free Internet to health and environmental regulations, and we have just 4 days to stop it. 
     Big business has a new plan to fatten their pockets: a giant global pact, with an international tribunal to enforce it, that is kept top secret for years (even from our lawmakers!) and then brought down like a Death Star on our democracies. Big Tobacco, Big Oil, Big Pharma, Walmart and almost 600 other corporate lobbyists are all in on the draft -- including limits on smoking laws, affordable medicines and free speech on the Net.

    The latest round of negotiations ends in just 4 days -- but outcries in each of our countries could shake the confidence of negotiators and scuttle the talks forever. Let's get to a million against the global corporate takeover. Sign below and forward widely. Avaaz will project our petition counter on the walls of the conference so negotiators can see the opposition to their plan exploding in real time:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_corporate_death_star/?bwqhjab&v=17858

    The deal, called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is written to protect investors from government regulation, even if that regulation is passed in the public interest. Leaked versions suggest the TPP would undermine protections for air and water safety and reintroduce measures from the US Internet freedom attack as well as steamrolling efforts to produce generic affordable medicines. Worse still, lawmakers who fail to conform to the TPP’s rules face sanctions in an international tribunal -- a place where corporations can sue us for deals previous governments signed in secret!   Negotiators say this is just a trade agreement, written to facilitate investment and profit for all. But the leaked draft imposes so many limits on citizen protections, it's clear this "trade" agreement is skewed to put corporate profit above people's needs -- that's not surprising since it's been drafted in secret with almost 600 corporate lobbyists.

   But there is hope: Australia is bucking against the international tribunal system, and New Zealand is objecting to the takeover of its medicine-pricing protections that keep drugs affordable. Massive public opposition, casting doubt over each country's ability to sell TPP at home, could derail the talks for good. Sign the petition now, and forward widely -- the delegates and lobbyists are watching the wave of opposition grow in real time:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_corporate_death_star/?bwqhjab&v=17858

    US Candidate for Senate, Elizabeth Warren in a recent speech said: “Corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance. They live, they love, and they die. And that matters, because we don't run this country for corporations, we run it for people." Let’s reach one million to stop the corporate takeover of our governments.

With hope,

Iain, Pedro, Laura, Ari, Emma, Lisa, Luca, Ricken and the whole Avaaz team

ann arky's home.

HAVING A CHAT WITH THE MAN IN THE SKY.

      Some years ago when I worked for SACRO, I used to take a woman to see her brother who was in Carstairs Mental Hospital. He was in there for murdering a stranger, he apparently heard voices that told him to do it. As I drove her there we would chat and she told me how God spoke to her and guided her. I could never separate the two. One was locked up because his voices told him to do unsociable things, the other was outside because her voices told her to sociable things, both were delusional.

       However, our world is filled with these types of people and as we walk past them in the street, chat to them at the bus stop, they seem normal people and probably hold down a job. How many of our politicians, judiciary, and others in power, talk to and get answers from that man in the sky, how many are delusional. This video is of a person who is accepted as a normal person, given broadcast time and claims God spoke to him the other day. How many other "normal" people you meet are like him, speak to an imaginary man and get answers?

ann arky's home.

VERMIN SLITHERS BACK DOWN ITS SEWER.

EDL takes a hiding, the SDL must go the same way, down the sewers.

ann arky's home.

SPRING HAS NOT YET SPRUNG!!

     Uprisings across the Middle East, sometimes popular uprisings of the ordinary people, but in most cases hi-jacked by Western interference with ulterior motives, or taken over by fundamentalists. At the end of the day they have usually ended up with another authoritarian power structure in place that sets about solidifying its position of power and doing its utmost to stifle any popular democratic challenge to its position.

This from LabourStart:

 

      Remember the "Arab Spring"?  It was supposed to mean a new era of freedom for workers.  But in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, union leaders and activists are being jailed and sacked in brutal attempts to crush independent trade unions.

      Global unions have launched online campaigns to protest and we need your support and the support of your fellow union members to put pressure on governments and companies in North Africa to begin to respect workers' rights.

       In Morocco, Said Elhairech, the general secretary of the Moroccan dockers union was arrested in Casablanca on false charges, including one relating to national security.  Nearly three months later, he's still being held, denied bail.  The International Transport Workers Federation has launched a global campaign to demand his release.  Send your message to the Moroccan government today by clicking here.

       In Egypt, transnational food giant Kraft has sacked five members of the board of the newly-created independent union at the former Cadbury chocolate factory in Alexandria following a protest over the non-payment of a government-decreed social allowance.  The IUF, the global union representing food workers, has an online protest here. 

      And finally in Tunisia, Zed Naloufi, the general secretary of the union at Kraft SAIDA, was disciplined and summarily dismissed following a membership meeting. His crime? Representing and meeting the members who elected him.  Support the IUF campaign demanding that Kraft reinstate him here.

     It will take you only a few minutes to support all three campaigns, but it's hugely important that you do so.

      And even more important that you recruit others to do so.  Let's flood the Moroccan government and Kraft with thousands of email messages in the next few days.

      And in doing so, let's help turn the promise of the "Arab Spring" into a reality for North African workers.

 

Thanks very much.

 

Eric Lee

ann arky's home.