RUTHLESS ATOS AND MANSLAUGHTER.

       Sometimes we can be grateful to the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, as some useful information can be gleaned from the discourses of the "Honourable Gentlemen". During a recent debate on the government's Work Capability Assessment scheme, some interesting figures came out. Some MP's condemned ATOS for, ruthlessly pressurising sick and disabled people into returning to their jobs. Michael Meacher, former Labour minister, stated that 1,300 people had died after ATOS had placed them on a work related activity group, these are people who ATOS deemed too ill to return to work at present but are expected to start preparing for a return to work. There has been 2,200 ill people who have died before ATOS had completed their assessment. There has been several cases of people on disability benefit, who after being passed fit for work by ATOS, and stripped of their benefit, have committed suicide. 

       It would appear that this forcing sick and disabled people through brutal humiliation and stress, can sink to depths no decent person could imagine. The debate in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, were told of the case of a woman who suffered from incontinence and was told she could return to work if she wore a nappy, how low will they sink? Attempting to get those registered as sick and disabled back into work, come what may, at a time when there are approximately 2.5 million people unemployed in this country, is just another charade, concealing their money saving mania. What are the chances of them getting employed when there are more than eight people chasing every vacancy?

           The entire stressful and humiliating process ruthlessly enforced by ATOS at the government's bidding is a criminal act and deaths resulting from such a process should be registered as manslaughter. If you bully somebody to the extent that they commit suicide, you are culpable. If you pressurise somebody to the extent that it could hasten their death, you are guilty of a crime. Why not ATOS?

         It is perhaps too much to expect justice under this present system, but we can fight for a change to society, so that justice will not have to be struggled for, it will be the norm.

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GUNS AND STATE VIOLENCE.

        There is a lot of sound and fury going on in America at the moment about guns, should they be banned, should certain types of guns be banned. Of course the gun lobby keeps up the cry that guns don't kill, it is people. Others say that it is rage that is at the root of all those shootings and massacres. Of course there is rage in America, perhaps it is because, even subconsciously, the American people now realise that "the American dream" was an illusion, it was a con, perpetrated by the corporate world.  It never did reach all Americans and it is doubtful if it ever reached anywhere near the majority of the American people. It was a propaganda weapon that kept everybody beavering away with the selfish desire that they were going to make it big time. They were going to get up the ladder higher than others and accrue more than others. A little bit of rationalism would have told them, that can't happen to everybody, so the dream was flawed from its inception. On the matter of guns, my only question is, what are guns for? Their only purpose is to kill, that is what they were designed to do, they are not fashion adornments, they surely aren't status symbols. Somewhere in the psyche of gun lovers there must be some link with the guns only purpose. Of course simply banning guns will not stop murders and massacres, but turning away from the love of guns might change that psyche.

      However, I see American society as a microcosm of the American state. Across the globe we see America indulging in mass killings by the biggest guns on earth, they make it quite obvious that they take it as right that they should solve what they deem to be problems, with firepower, but throw their hands in the air in anguish when individuals do like wise. Throughout our history, guns have always meant power, as we rampaged across the planet raping and plundering its resources, but this violent response to what the state sees as problems, is labeled morally right and stamped legal, but that violence is meant to be its prerogative. When individuals and groups do likewise to solve their problems, it is labeled morally wrong and stamped illegal. It is obviously a flawed system. 

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WHY WORK?

       It is practically universal, almost all of those who have to do it, hate it, if not at first, in time they begin to hate it, as it eventually grinds them down. Usually those who don't have to do it, the rich and privileged of this society, will praise it, and denigrate those among the poor who don't do it, whether it is by their own desire or otherwise. I am of course talking about work.

      It was Paul Lafargue, Marx's son-in-law, and author of  "The right to be lazy" who wrote:

        ...not to demand the Right to Work which is but the right to misery, but to forge a brazen law forbidding any man to work more than three hours a day, the earth, the old earth, trembling with joy would feel a new universe leaping within her.

         Why do we do it? An interesting article from Void Mirror:

     All must work! Declares the cabinet of millionaires. 'Workers not shirkers!, they implore. 'Strivers not skivers!' The divide and rule rhetoric trying to pit those in work against those without is as relentless as it is transparent. But what's so good about work anyway?  

      Junge Linke's short piece skewers how attempts to mobilise resentment of claimants and the unemployed undermine even those in work who aren't claiming benefits. What I'd like to focus on is two perspectives on what an explicitly anti-work politics might look like.

Read the full article HERE:

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GEORGE SQUARE IS OUR SQUARE.

        The Kremlin in  George Square are at it again, touching their forelock to the corporate world. Not content with having taken the city's historic George Square and turned half of it into rentable red tarmac to raise money, and allow the corporate world to tout their wares in what should be a pleasant place for the citizens and tourist to sit, chat, have lunch or meander and mingle. They now are intent on spending £15 million on changing the whole square into a suitable venue for more corporate events in the hope of raising more money. The Square belongs to the people, it is a spot in the heart of the city where we can, (should be able to) relax and meet-up with friends and family. It should never be a another corporate space, another money spinner for the corporate world. As far as I am aware, the Square is actually registered as a public park and as such should remain a place for the people of Glasgow and visitors to enjoy. Only the people of Glasgow can stop this rape of our city, only we can take back what is rightfully ours before it becomes another one of those things that we look back at with that nostalgic look in our eye.

This from A World to Win:

         Citizens in Glasgow are up in arms over a council proposal to transform historic George Square, into a corporate “retail-led” space with crass “public art”. Many rightly see it is an attempt to drive the political and social life of the city out of this important square.
George Square has been the centre of struggle in the city from the 1919 uprising to demonstrations against the poll tax and Trident. Most recently, it was the site for the Occupy movement’s actions in Glasgow.
Without any consultation, the Labour-controlled council has unveiled six options, each more corporate than the one before, in a £15 million project, most of which will be borrowed against future business rates income.

Read the full article HERE:

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WHOSE STREETS ARE THEY?

       With the Golden Dawn fascists, backed up by the police, making daily attacks on immigrants, or even those who "don't look Greek", the continual physical confrontation between anti-fascists and the Golden Dawn fascists, the latter usually rescued or protected by the police, recent mass arrests of anarchists, and the eviction of long standing squats makes it clear that in Greece, the political struggle has moved from a battle to control the ballot boxes to a battle to control the streets. As the state loses the propaganda battle of keeping the public quiet and subservient, it will move to the more forceful method of control, brute force and repression. This can be a tipping point, who controls the streets, controls the country, the state is well aware of this fact and will pull out all the stops to gain and keep control of those streets. It is what we all face as we increase our resistance to the onslaught of brutal austerity measures. Here in the UK as well as the rest of Europe we are entering the era of bare-knuckle capitalism, as they will not give up on their plans to siphon all public assets into the private corporate world. The will fight their corner hard and viciously, we have no alternative but to fight back with more force than they hit us or capitulate, the choice is ours.

This from Contra Info:

        In the evening of January 15th, 2013 antifascists confronted a Nazi group of the Chrissi Avgi/Golden Dawn party in the city of Heraklion, on Crete.
     Approximately 30 fascists were passing out their texts for the second time on one of the city’s avenues. A group of nearly 60 antifascists attacked the Nazis, who wore helmets and carried sticks with the national flag. The Nazis ran away in fear, after a five minute’s clash. Only when fascists retreated did two anti-riot squadrons intervene and try to chase off the counter-protesters (as usual, cops and fascists had coordinated themselves well beforehand). After the crackdown of the police that used tear gas and stun grenades, the dastardly Nazis began to throw stones at the comrades from a distance and urged cops to pursue the antifascists.
      More than five Nazis were wounded and needed stitches, while they received concussions and had broken limbs, too. At the same time, three antifascists got injured from the stones and needed stitches. Both Nazis and counter-protesters ended up in the same hospital which was on duty, where two anti-riot squadrons made their presence again, in order to safeguard the Golden Dawn members. While solidarians waited for the injured antifascists to leave the hospital, they slashed the tires of four cars belonging to Nazis outside.

Read the full article HERE:

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OUR PRIVATISED HEALTH SERVICE.

        I suppose you still remember those ConDem millionaires spouting how they would protect the NHS? Well they are working hard at making sure it becomes International Health Services, PLC. The big corporate greed merchants are all lined up waiting for that little extra perk from their millionaire friends in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, they want tax relief for companies buying up the NHS. They believe that we the public should pay for the privilege of letting the blood sucking corporate beast make millions from our sick and elderly. Recently Paul Polman, chief executive Officer of Unilever, the world's third-largest consumer goods company, stated,“The structural changes that need to be made for society still haven’t been made," he says. "There has been a growing realisation that our present model of growth, while it has served us well for a long time, certainly has enormous shortcomings which are increasingly transparent." “Individuals need to get used to lower pensions and welfare payments.(my emphases added) Government needs to get used to lower spending levels, businesses need to get used to the costs that come with it and bear their part. Everybody has to chip in. People are realising in the West that our model is not a sustainable model.”

      I love that bit, "Everybody has to chip in", we, the public, take a massive cut in our living standards, see our pensions evaporate like early morning mist in the sun, stand idly by as our social services become a commodity to be purchased from Fatcat Incorporated, buy our health care from FastBuck Ltd. then send our elderly to LastChanceSaloon, PLC. This is their idea of how to encourage growth, growth for who? Well it is obvious that the only growth to come from such a blood sucking idea will be in the bank accounts of the parasite shareholders, bank accounts that will no doubt be shuffled off to some sunny little tax haven. 

     This is the millionaire ConDem way of protecting our NHS, making sure it becomes the biggest money spinner their millionaire corporate friends have seen in their lifetime. The biggest rip-off they have managed to engineer in generations. All the health care you could possibly wish for at a price and if you can't manage the price, well see some back street shady practitioner who'll do it on the cheap for you. It's market forces in health, just as you can by cheap shoes or expensive shoes, so you will be able to buy cheap health care or if you're lucky the better article, expensive health care.  

        The following from A World to Win: 

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THAT BABBLING BROOK OF BULLSHIT.

       Time and time again I refer to the Media as that babbling brook of bullshit, if only that was all they were. They are in fact a necessary arm of the powers that be and produce part-information and mis-information shaping and shading the picture of the world that we are handed. They are not innocents, their distortions can bolster a war by painting it justifiable and honourable, when in fact it is no more than a corporate resource grab, Iraq springs to mind. Their selective amnesia and blind-eye vision is nothing less than complicity in some of the most brutal episodes of modern Western imperialism. Without the loyal subservience of the mainstream media the state could not possibly get away with these brutal murders of innocent men, woman and children across the world. If the states of the world are blood stained up to their armpits, the mainstream media is wallowing in that same blood.

         There was a report half way through the war of an Italian refugee charity arriving at the border of Kosovo with a camera crew and ambulance, and spiriting away an old woman refugee who’d collapsed – all of it faithfully filmed for Italian TV. It was the first time during the war the charity had done anything. It turned out that the woman had merely fainted – and, as a result of this dramatic intervention she became extremely upset, hardly surprising, since she’d been separated from her family who, in the meantime, had been shoved off to some other refugee camp, and no-one knew where they were. Once you enter this world of TV, of image, of the appearance of goodness, “care”, “charity” & “humanitarianism” are but masks for indifference: everything’s just a photo-opportunity. The more all-pervasive these role-bound relations are the more such functionalising of people appears as ‘natural’. The media is simply an arm of the State, making modern alienated spectacular relations seem reasonable and in­evitable. 

         An article from a former soldier in Bosnia said that when an American TV crew turned up at his base they asked to see a burnt-out village previously inhabited by Bosnian Muslims – which they were duly shown. When the UN soldiers asked if they wanted to take photos of a burnt-out village previously inhabited by Bosnian Serbs the journalists refused, saying it would confuse the issue: their viewers wanted clear ideas about what was going on. The soldier then went on to say that this was a typical American desire for black and white opinions. In fact, this American TV crew were merely being loyal servants of their masters, the US ruling class, loyal servants of dominant ideology, which is not simplisticly a lie, but a half-truth that omits any facts that contradict the official “truth”.

 Image by John Hartfield.

Read the full article HERE:

 

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WORKERS PLEDGE.

       The Spirit of Revolt group are in the midst of their first exhibition, which is being held in the foyer of the Mitchell Library Glasgow and runs until Saturday 19th. January. The exhibition is called Radical Presses Clydeside, and tries to show the extent of anarchist/libertarian socialist literature that has been and is still being produce from independent radical presses across the area. The selection of literature on display covers the full spectrum from industrial struggle to feminism, from anti-war to  syndicalist theory and more. There are pamphlets, books, leaflets and newspapers, going back more than 100 years. The aim of the group is to make this material more readily available to the general public in the hope that they can identify this past with the struggles we face today and hopefully learn from that past. The feedback so far has been nothing but positive. One of the books on display is Guy Aldred's "At Grips With War" and below is a quote from the book that one visitor asked if we could print out a copy for him. Which we willingly did.

Workers Pledge in Time of War.

I refuse to kill any child's father.

I refuse to slay any mother's son.

I refuse to plunge the bayonet into the breast of any

                woman's brother, lover, or mate.

I refuse to murder and deem the slaughter glory.

I refuse to butcher with the hands that were intended to

                serve and to caress.

I refuse to soak the earth with blood and blind my reason

                with obedience.

I refuse to assassinate another man and then hide my

                 stained fists in the folds of a bloodstained flag.

I refuse to be flattered, cajoled, or driven into hell's

                nightmare by a class of well-fed snobs, crooks

                and cowards who despise my class socially, rob

                my class economically, and betray and oppress it

                politically. Let militarism do its worst, I refuse

                to serve, I decline to kill.

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-- BUT THE SPECTATOR IS NECROPHILIAC---.

         Sometimes a comment says more than you could write in an article ten times its length. Just a few lines a handful of words and there it is, just what you were trying to say in that essay/article/letter. I found one such comment in an article called "Shakespeare was a fake"

On the other side of this leaflet was the following:
CULTURE – YECCHH! – THE ULTIMATE COMMODITY – THE ONE THAT SELLS ALL THE OTHERS…………….
Sit down! Keep quiet! Face the front!
Laugh/cry/clap at the right places only, please!
Refrain from discussing the performances or the set until the interval!Be good! And – above all – APPRECIATE!
WHILST YOU WATCH A TRAGI-COMEDY THE TRAGI-COMEDY OF YOUR LIFE PASSES YOU BY…
“Oh, he’s such a brilliant actor…”
“No, I disagree – I find him somewhat derivative, actually.”
ALL THESE DISTRACTIONS/COMPENSATIONS JUST REINFORCE YOUR PASSIVITY IN THE FACE OF THE LIVING DEATH OF MARKET RELATIONS, RELATIONS OF EXCHANGE, OF DOMINATION & SUBMISSION……………..
HIGH CULTURE/LOW CULTURE – JUST ANOTHER HIERARCHY TO KEEP YOUR OWN CREATIVE NEGATIVITY LOCKED UP IN YOUR HEAD, REDUCED TO DAY-DREAMING & NIGHTMARES……….
ART IS DEAD – BUT THE SPECTATOR IS NECROPHILIAC………

Actually the whole article is worth a read:

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THE STENCH OF AMERICAN EMPIRE.

      This film is an excellent display of just how that "land of the free", America tramples democracy. John Pilger's film, though made in 2007, is still due as wide a viewing as possible as it helps to lay bare the depth of brutal corruption that lies at the heart of this corporate system. 

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ATOS KILLS - TIME TO KILL ATOS.

Tom Gordon
Scottish Political Editor Herald

        DEPUTY First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is being targeted by protesters who want the controversial "fit-for-work" benefits test company Atos dropped as a sponsor of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Around 15 demonstrators carrying "Atos Kills" posters invaded a constituency surgery in Sturgeon's Glasgow Southside seat on Friday to demand an end to the deal.
       The peaceful protest ended after police were called to the Larkfield Centre in Govanhill but there were no arrests. Sturgeon personally welcomed Atos as an official sponsor of Glasgow 2014 last year, calling the French IT giant's involvement "a significant step forward for the Games".
       The company will supply the software to accredit up to 70,000 athletes, volunteers and officials, and run the Glasgow 2014 website. Sturgeon is also the Scottish Government's leading voice on welfare issues – last week she announced an expert group to help devise a welfare system reflecting "Scottish values" and fairness under independence instead of the cuts being imposed by Westminster.
        Protesters say Atos could not be further from those Scottish values, given its central role in the UK government's welfare reforms. Atos Healthcare has a £110 million annual contract with the Department of Work and Pensions to run work capability assessments of the sick and disabled, and a £400m deal to assess mobility benefits. Critics say the tests are flawed, degrading and inefficient, with one in six passed as fit to work winning an appeal against the decision.
        The Atos sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics led to protests, and similar actions are now planned in Glasgow. The 2014 HQ was occupied last month, and protesters have threatened to disrupt the Scottish equivalent of the Olympic torch relay if Atos is still a sponsor.
        The SNP Government is funding about 80% of the £550m price tag for the Games. However, a video of Friday's protest shows Sturgeon denying any say over the sponsorship: "Obviously the benefits side of this is not a matter for the Scottish Government, it's a UK Government issue ... I will take on board what you said to the Commonwealth Games. Obviously, it's not my decision in terms of sponsors."

        Protester David Churchley, co-founder of the Black Triangle disability rights group, said Atos sponsorship was "absolutely scandalous and beyond belief" and that Sturgeon had tried to give protesters the brush off. He said: "They have learned nothing from the Olympics. They're just riding roughshod over disabled people and those who support us. But Friday will be just one of many stunts we will be mounting up to the Games."
      Sean Clerkin of Citizens United said: "The SNP Government is being hypocritical. They criticise the Tory-led Coalition for what they're doing to welfare, while welcoming Atos as sponsors of the Commonwealth Games. "Nicola Sturgeon is the person talking about a welfare system with
Scottish values. If she's going to live up to those values, she should ensure Atos is dropped as a sponsor."
         An Atos spokesman said: "While we fully respect people's right to peaceful protest and understand this is a highly emotive issue, Atos is proud to be an official supporter of the Glasgow 2014 organising committee." An SNP spokeswoman added: "We are opposed to the criteria and tests set by the UK Government that Atos deliver, and have made clear that they should reconsider this approach. "We are looking forward to a positive Commonwealth Games that will be a great opportunity to showcase Scotland to the world."

Info first obtained from CityStrolls:

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THE BRUTAL STATE.

       In Greece the authoritarian fascist government, now firmly in the hands of the financial Mafia and vigorously pursuing their policies, is coming down hard on any space that appears to a free and autonomous centre, anything that looks like the people can organise themselves, has to be destroyed. Anywhere that might stimulate resistance has to be totally repressed. Resistance to their policies can't be allowed to grow, bare-knuckle corporate fascism is in full swing in Greece.  Recently, squats,  some of them many years in serving their community, have been forcibly evicted and scores of anarchists arrested. However, resistance is growing and on Saturday 13th., 10,000 took to the streets in solidarity with those arrested and calling for the re-occupation of the squats.     

      In country after country across Europe and else where, as austerity is more forcibly applied, and the people's resistance grows, so the true face of our "representative democracy" will be revealed. The state apparatus will do what it deems necessary to fulfill the aims of the financial Mafia, the will of the people is not on their agenda. Be prepared.

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OUR LOVE OF THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA!!

        It would appear that our lords and masters, the millionaire cabal, can't do without a war somewhere. There's talk of UK troops coming out of Afghanistan after 12 years of pointless killing and destruction, and now our pampered and privileged millionaire Prime Minister has announced that, despite our need for austerity, we will be sending aircraft to support the French military, who are fighting in Mali. For many years Mali was the centre of a large empire, controlling trade routes for gold, salt and among other things, slaves. In the West's greed for empire and riches the French grabbed that part of the world and called it their own. After breaking free from the French imperialists the people of Mali have struggled to sort out their country and there have been several massive peaceful demonstrations over the years, that have been brutally put down. Mali is mainly flat and mostly dust covered, so why are the French in there with their fire power, and now the UK?  Could it be because Mali faces several environmental challenges such as desertification, soil erosion, deforestation and shortage of water? Is it simply the Western governments love of the people of Africa coming to the fore? Perhaps this is the West showing its benevolence in its desire to see the people of Mali live the good life? Or, heaven forbid, there might be another motive other than love and affection!! Could it possibly be anything to do with the fact that Mali has considerable natural resources, such as gold, uranium, phosphates, kaolinite, salt and limestone, being the most widely exploited. 

     This is corporate capitalism at work doing its usual thing. Where there are resources the corporate West will take them with the backing of the military might of their puppets, the Western governments, with no thought for the people of that particular area. We have screwed the people of Africa for centuries and it will continue until we get rid of the system that is based on greed, and profit for the few at the expense of the many. Mali is just one little bit of their destructive and plundering activities that are killing people and destroying the planet.

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ONLY TWO DAYS---.

      Just a wee reminder,  only 353 days until Christmas, but more important --- only two days until The Spirit of Revolt Exhibition, Radical Presses Clydeside at the Mitchell Library Glasgow.

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THERE ARE MEN TOO GENTLE----.

       I posted this at the start of 2012, but think it is worth repeating at the start of 2013.

        As the new year gets up and running and all the talk is of struggle and fighting, we should never forget why we are fighting. It is not for the love of struggle and fight, it is not for power and wealth, it is because of love and a desire to create a world where such beautiful flowers as justice, peace and love, bloom in the fertile soil of co-operation, so we can live in a world free from the fear of deprivation. We wish to create a world where the gentle can live and grow.

THERE ARE MEN TOO GENTLE TO LIVE

AMONG WOLVES

Poem by James Kavanaugh

There are men too gentle to live among wolves

Who prey upon them with IBM eyes

And sell their hearts and guts for martinis at noon.

There are men too gentle for a savage world

Who dream instead of snow and children and Halloween

And wonder if the leaves will change their color soon.

There are men too gentle to live among wolves

Who anoint them for burial with greedy claws

And murder then for a merchant's profit and gain.

There are men too gentle for a corporate world

Who dream instead of candied apples and ferris wheels

And pause to hear the distant whistle of a train.

There are men too gentle to live among wolves.

Who devour them with eager appetite and search

For other men to prey upon and suck their childhood dry.

There are men too gentle for an accountant's world

Who dream instead of Easter eggs and fragrant grass

And search for beauty in the mystery of the sky.

There are men too gentle to live among wolves

Who toss them like a lost and wounded dove.

Such gentle men are lonely in a merchant's world.

Unless they have a gentle one to love.

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TWO FACED----!

      While our millionaire parasites that go by the name of MP's, continually wring their hands and tell us things are so bad that we have to tighten our belts and accept all this misery and austerity, they don't seem to think the same about themselves. It seems that our “Honourable Gentlemen” have suggested to the Commons expenses watchdog that they should have a 32% salary increase. In a recent survey our humble MP's suggested that they deserved a salary of £86,250, and though they have worked hard at getting rid of final salary pensions for all and sundry across the land, they feel that it should be retained for them. That's what you call “serving the people”. 

 I'm worth it, I'm an MP.

       The survey also shows that 69% thought that MP's were underpaid, what's your thoughts on that one? The varying amounts that they thought that they should be paid changed according to party, with the Tories coming in with the biggest ego, believing that their salary should be £96,740. One fifth of those in the survey thought that they should be paid £95,000 or more. This is the thoughts that are running through the heads of that bunch of millionaire playboys that are sitting and without any blushes or shame forcing legislation on the rest of us that drive us deeper and deeper into poverty. Perhaps the term “Honourable Gentlemen” should be dropped from the Westminster House of Corruption and Hypocrisy and be replaced with “two-faced lying bastards”. Or do you think I'm being too harsh on the poor souls?

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THAT WAS THE YEAR!

       A review of 2012 from Circle A radio. It was the year of increase poverty for the people, increase pomp and ceremony for the lords and masters with their jubilee. We had the big money splurge of the Olympics and Paralypics. A year of contrasts, as we struggled to keep our heads above water we had opulence and unearned wealth flung in our faces, a true display of the system for all to see.

A 2012 review by Circled A

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WHO DO YOU WANT TO SHAPE YOUR WORLD?

       It is important for us to realise this, "economic downturn" that we are experiencing is not a national problem, it is an international problem. The powers that be, the corporate world, realise this, and organise accordingly, drawing on international resources to shape the outcome to their desires. We have to do likewise, we have to join hands across borders and co-ordinate our struggle, drawing on the limitless energy, imagination and ingenuity of the world's ordinary people. This is the force that must shape the world's economic systems so fulfilling the desires of the ordinary people. We cannot leave it to the greed merchants of the corporate world to create further inequalities in their drive to increase their wealth and power. We have had their capitalist world for centuries now, and the result is poverty and starvation on a scale never known before, wars across the globe on a scale of brutality and ferociousness never witnessed before. We have a range of inequality that has never existed before, with individuals possessing enough wealth to destroy the social fabric of a country. Such a system governed by the unimaginably wealthy can never be in the interests of of the majority of the people. It is not designed for that purpose, its primary function is to create greater wealth in the hands of those with the most wealth. It will strive to protect and increase that wealth at the expense of the environment and the people. So far, as far as the economic system is concerned, it has been functioning well, with fewer and fewer people controlling more and more of the earth's wealth and resources. Is that what we want to continue for our children and our grandchildren? Or do we envisage an alternative of justice, equality, co-operation, mutual aid and sustainability? 

      This from A World to Win:

Davos elites warn of "perfect global storm" threat

      Listening to the ConDems lecturing the low-waged and unemployed about “fairness” as they cut their state benefits when measured against inflation, reinforces the view of a government at war with ordinary people while protecting the rich and powerful.

     The policy adds weight to the contents of the latest edition of Global Risks, which the World Economic Forum produces each year before the world’s ruling elites gather at Davos to try and reshape the world in their image.

      At the centre of its concerns are the prospects of loss of confidence in government leadership and the threat of increasing unrest as inequality widens. With the ConDems held in contempt by large sections in society, and Labour presenting itself as Coalition Lite, the WEF is right to be concerned.

   The report was published on the day that European Union joblessness reached a new record high. Youth unemployment in Spain has passed 56%. No wonder Global Risks says that a eurozone meltdown cannot be ruled out.

    The report is a 80-page crystallisation of responses from “1,000 experts from industry, government, academia and civil society who were asked to review a landscape of 50 global risks”. Presented in the language of systems theory, the results are sobering:

     "Continued stress on the global economic system is positioned to absorb the attention of leaders for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the Earth’s environmental system is simultaneously coming under increasing stress. Future simultaneous shocks to both systems could trigger the ‘perfect global storm’, with potentially insurmountable consequences."

Read the full article HERE:

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MASS ARRESTS OF ANARCHISTS IN ATHENS.

      Greek state comes down hard on anarchists in Athens. After the eviction of a 25 year squat in Athens, it was briefly re-occupied this morning, and then re-evicted. This was followed by the arrest of over 150 anarchist. Like I always say, when the state feels threatened, it becomes a bare-knuckle fight, the niceties of party political mud sling soon disappear and the rubber bullets, water cannon, batons and all the paraphernalia of repression come into full view. This from The Greek Streets:

Villa Amalias re-squatted and re-evicted; largest number of anarchists detained in a single day in 15 years; updates

(Follow today’s development via this ticker or via our January 9th tag)

UPDATE, 19.45 pm Another three anarchists have been detained at the corner of Patision and Alexandras ave, bringing today’s total up to 152.
UPDATE, 19.20 pm At least 1,500 people have gathered outside the Police HQ in solidarity with those arrested throughout the day.
UPDATE, 17.55 pm Earlier on, anarchists held a spontaneous demo outside the Ministry of Finance as PM Samaras held a press conference inside, in response to the Villa Amalias raid.
UPDATE, 17.50 pm More than 1,000 people inside the Polytechnic for tonight’s assembly. Meanwhile, a police water cannon has been spotted outside the police HQ on Alexandras avenue. The other two central universities in Athens, the School of Economics and the Law school, have been shut following orders by their administrations.
UPDATE, 17.35 pm The 40 anarchists detained earlier on inside the Democratic Left party HQ have all been released.
UPDATE, 17.15 pm News from inside the Polytechnic: the assembly location has changed, from Gini to the Max auditorium. Outside, riot police squads are stationed on most side streets off Stournari street and around the entire campus.

Catch up on the full story with live coverage:

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WE ARE BEING SUCKERED.

       In 2008 we had the so called financial crash, here we are in 2013 and the November unemployment figures for the Eurozone hit a new all time high at 11.8%, youth unemployment at 14.4%, while for the whole of the European Union it is 10.7%, and youth unemployment is 23.7%. This translates into more than 26 million people unemployed across the EU. struggling to survive, not that those in work are doing that much better. According to the BBC's World Service Economic correspondent, Andrew Walker, “---- The general trend however remains upwards and it makes it even harder for the governments concerned to collect the taxes they need to stabilise their debts”
    These figures are modest by the figures in some individual European countries, Spain leading the charge with 26.6% and Greece following with 20%. The misery heaped on the young of these two countries alone, is an indictment of the capitalist system. Greece has the worst unemployment amongst the young with 57% and Spain next with 56.5% . More than half of the young population of both these countries mired in poverty and their entire life potential being stunted. That's the system we are expected to embrace.
      Of course unemployment is not an accident, it is not unavoidable, it is the direct result of government policies as they follow the instructions of the financial Mafia. Unemployment is the ugly side of that polite phrase, “structural reform” unemployment is the criminal reality of the innocent sounding “austerity cuts”. Both these phrases come together as the cornerstone of the Western corporate world's drive to become “more competitive.”, another innocent sounding phrase with a dire reality. It in fact means, lower wages, unregulated labour and a pool of unemployment. In other words, a European-wide sweatshop economy to compete with the sweatshops of the East.

                                      These are hard times.
 

        Here in the UK, under the direction of the ConDem coalition of pampered parasites, 2013 will be the year that all that talking of “austerity cuts”, starts to impact with a vengeance on the lives of most of us ordinary people. It will be the year that people will begin to realise that cuts are usually followed by bleeding. Our cuts are severe, expect severe bleeding. Meanwhile our millionaire lords and masters, living the pampered life of useless parasites, will attempt to shed a theatrical tear as they tell us how hard things are and how we will all have to do “our bit” and “we are all in this together”. They will then retreat to their mansions and prepare for a break in their Bermuda holiday home. They call it capitalism, don't you feel like a sucker?

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TO SLOWLY DIE OR FIGHT BACK?

      It is becoming obvious that there will be no peace in Greece until the present system collapses and is replaced by something nearer the people's desires. The poverty is too painful, the suffering too severe, the wounds too deep, to let it all go and drift back to the facade that was called normality. The people have seen through the illusion, have seen through the smoke and mirrors, have come face to face with the brutal reality of the capitalist system, and it is too grotesque to allow it to continue.

     The following article from The Greek Streets, gives another example of how the state will always find money to spend on repression, even, for example, as the people run out of medication for serious illnesses. How should the people react when the state can find, approximately €16.5 million, for police equipment while the elderly and the sick are allowed to slowly die from lack of care and treatment?

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Greek original

THE MONEY EXISTS [1], or…

Authority sets its priorities straight (it always did) Amidst a full-out operation aimed at the economic impoverishment of the poorest segments of greek society, amidst the complete draining of funds toward anything that we may have previously known to comprise a minimum protection for the popular strata (healthcare and treatment, pensions etc), authority now comes to shamelessly and provocatively show even to the most superficial of observers what its priority and its strategy is.

     What could it be that the impoverished Greek society of 2013 needs? Why of course, 499 new police patrol cars and 217 motorbikes for the scoundrels of Dias and Delta. And so, in early December 2012 the call-out was made for car importers to bid for their supply, with a budget of 16.445.000 euros. So, the money exists…

       THE PETROL EXISTS, or…

The repressed must set their priorities straight.

On January 6 and 7 we attacked the official importers of…

* Citroen, on Amfitheas Str

* Hyundai, on Acharnon Str

* Volvo, on Vouliagmenis Ave

* Daihatsu and Fiat, on Tsaldari Str in Polygono

* Honda, on Alexandras Ave…

…companies, that is, that are nevertheless targeted by the revolted – since the automobile industry comprises one of the driving forces of capitalist production and economy.

In addition, this is a warning message to all car importers who will take part in the bidding called by the Greek Police, contributing in this way to economic impoverishment but also to the intensification of repression and policing.

We promise, and you’d better believe this, that whoever “wins” the bidding will face a targeted and constant barrage of attacks.

NOTHING SHALL REMAIN UNANSWERED

IT’S EITHER THEM OR US

P.S. Our thoughts are with the comrade Panagiotis Argyrou [2]

[1] A reference to the infamous pre-electoral quote by ex-PM Papandreou before taking power and implementing severe cuts.

[2] Latest news on the health of Panagiotis Argyrou at contrainfo

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A YEAR IN GREECE.

      Most countries across the globe 2012, was a year of protest and mass demonstrations, in some cases, extremely violent confrontations with the protectors of the powers that be, have accompanied these events. In Europe, no more so than Greece. No matter how violent and brutal these confrontations become, life goes on in some form or other, people go about trying to get by, trying to get a life.

     In this slide show of a year in Greece, I think Teacher Dude has captured that fact, a year of love and hate, tranquility and anger, spectacular and ordinary.

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