Sweatshop Conditions In California.

       Now and again that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, report on dreadful working conditions in some Eastern sweatshop, but seldom, if ever, on the conditions of those working under similar conditions in the so called Western developed countries. Their finger points east, but we should remember that old movie expression, “Go West young man”. The great food basket of America, California, has some of the worst working condition for agricultural workers any where in the world. An abundance of cheap fruit and veg on the back of appalling conditions suffered by under paid, over worked, abused and harassed workers. Capitalism doesn't recognise east or west, it just sees opportunities to exploit. Profit is king.

This from United Farm Workers: 

 

Should anyone have to go through this?

     The conditions under which many melon pickers in this country work stink. Sometimes literally. Can you help?

Azucena Ordorica has had five years’ experience picking melons in California. Her descriptions of the restrooms near the fields where she has worked are stomach-turning: “The bathrooms were always very dirty,” she says. “When I would open the door, a horrendous smell along with a swarm of flies would come out. The flies were flying and landing all over my body,” she says. “It was horrible.”

    And that’s not the worst of it. According to melon harvester Brenda A. Ruiz, “On occasions bathrooms are not provided.” Brenda also says that “The water that is provided to drink is hot and dirty.” And the bosses find creative ways to take the workers’ meager wages away from them. Brenda reports that she and her co-workers are required to carpool with their supervisors — at a cost of $15 per day!

   Women workers endure special threats and humiliations. Azucena had a particularly traumatic experience with sexual harassment. “On the first day of employment, a supervisor once told me if I had sex with him twice a week, he would make sure I had work for the entire season,” she says. “Since I refused, I was fired.”

People should NOT be subjected to such abuses to support themselves and their families. Cantaloupes and other melon crops bring hundreds of millions of dollars of profit every year to U.S. growers. They can afford to pay their workers better and to ensure that their employees work in safe, sanitary conditions.

     We know it is possible because one exceptional company, Perez Packing Inc. of Firebaugh, California, is working with the UFW to make it happen. We’re currently negotiating with them to give their workers the kind of union contract every farm worker deserves. 

     By sending your contribution today, you’ll allow us to organize at the other melon companies with these horrible abuses. Every donation, regardless of the amount, makes a difference and is greatly appreciated.

https://secure.ufw.org/melons

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Lid Is Still On, But The Pot Is Boiling!!

     The people in Spain have been getting the same message from their government that we in the UK are getting, "things are getting better, the economy is on the mend.". Of course the people in Spain don't feel that, and don't believe the propaganda, nor should we. 

     Protest in Spain and Greece have been almost continuous for a number of years now, but the mainstream media, that babbling brook of bullshit, just reports words from the mouthpieces of the financial Mafia, economic gurus and the pundits who kneel before the altar of eternal growth.
This from Roar Mag:

       The latest short documentary in the Global Uprisings series explores ongoing resistance and self-organization in the midst of the crisis in Spain.

        As social conditions continue to deteriorate across Spain, people have been turning to the streets and to each other to find solutions to the crisis. This film tells the story of the massive mobilization that saw millions of people converge on Madrid on March 22, 2014; the story of the proliferation of social centers, community gardens, self-organized food banks; and the story of large-scale housing occupations by and for families that have been evicted. The film pieces together many of the creative ways that people have been coping with crisis and asks what the future may hold for Spain.

        Filmed and edited in March/April 2014, it is part of the Global Uprisings documentary series. View more at globaluprisings.org.

Pieces of Madrid from brandon jourdan on Vimeo.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Who Calls The Shots?

     Who calls the shots, who pulls the strings, who does the deadly deeds, who takes the prize?

HIDDEN POWERS.

Today, lives are shaped by powers we fail to see,

stealthily fashioning our fears, forming our hates,

binding us to a life on bended knee.

Invoking demons on a distant shore

insidiously fanning the flames of fear

'till hate becomes a roar. Then

ours the hand that holds the gun

theirs the finger that points

their's the prize when the deed is done;

ours to lose our loves to the lonely grave

drowning our hearts in a sea of tears,

draining the world of the young and the brave

who, believing they answer a country's call

desert lovers' arms for death's embrace

victims of another cambist brawl.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Proof - Money Rules.

 

    So, two very respected professors from Princeton and Northwestern universities, do an extensive study and come up with what you and I already know, “America is not a democracy”. Well it is nice to get confirmation of your opinion from such established institutions. Of course, we are also very sure that if the two learned professors took the methods across the Atlantic to the UK, they would come up with the same findings, money rules the UK. Is there anybody out there that still believes that there is such a thing as Western democracy?

This from Roar Mag:

       It’s not every day that an academic article in the arcane world of American political science makes headlines around the world, but then again, these aren’t normal days either. On Wednesday, various mainstream media outlets — including even the conservative British daily The Telegraph — ran a series of articles with essentially the same title: “Study finds that US is an oligarchy.” Or, as the Washington Post summed up: “Rich people rule!” The paper, according to the review in the Post, “should reshape how we think about American democracy.”

       The conclusion sounds like it could have come straight out of a general assembly or drum circle at Zuccotti Park, but the authors of the paper in question — two Professors of Politics at Princeton and Northwestern University — aren’t quite of the radical dreadlocked variety. No, like Piketty’s book, this article is real “science”. It’s even got numbers in it! Martin Gilens of Princeton and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University took a dataset of 1,779 policy issues, ran a bunch of regressions, and basically found that the United States is not a democracy after all:

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Magic Of Poverty.

    Mountains of wealth and swamps of poverty, the contradictions inherent in this vicious system of capitalism.

THE MAGIC OF POVERTY.

Despondency,   our morning cloak

worn through the lonely day,

walking poverty's empty corridors

remembering promise that broke

in castle made of clay.

Indignation trapped in a heart

desire lost in a fog

poverty's special magic where,

a lover becomes a tart,

a spouse a snarling dog.

Voices raised in anger

hands wrung in despair

faces with no love

self-pride a stranger

confidence a rare affair.

Tired wishes, empty hopes, tears

and broken dreams,

short lived loves, brittle vows,

tomorrows filled with fear;

poverty's melody themes.

Our daughters and our sons

innocent and intent

born in the labyrinth of poverty;

a dark place bright hope shuns,

and dreams re never sent.

By the force of poverty drawn

to become the labouring crowd,

filling the world with plenty, yet

missing out on the golden dawn,

their passions by poverty cowed.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Workers Know Your History - The Ludlow Massacre, 1914.

         In the 21st. Century as the corporate bodies try to trash workers pay and conditions, ably encouraged and supported by that millionaire cabal sitting in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, we should do well to remember that this is not a new phenomenon, it has been part and parcel of this system of capitalism since its inception. Our history is littered by brutal and cruel attacks on our living conditions, some more brutal than others. You can pick your era, and you will find the workers in struggle to hold onto what meagre conditions they have, or to try to extract some sort of improvement.

      Today marks the 100th anniversary of one of those brutal and cold blooded attacks on workers in struggle, resulting in the murder of men, women and children. April 20, 1914, in America saw the state and its corporate buddies brutally attack a tent town of striking miners and their families. The event is recorded in our history as the Ludlow Massacre.

       It was an era of bitter struggles across the industrial world, and in America there had been numerous strikes by miners, railroad workers and textile workers and many others. In Colorado the miners had been in a long struggle trying to unionise against long hours, low pay and the mining companies continuous policy of failing to abide by labour laws. The conditions were exacerbated by the fact the the miners had to live in company towns, homes built and owned by the company, and instead of “money” were paid in company tokens, called “script”, which could only by used in company stores. In 1913 the miners took strike action after the companies rejected seven demands from the Union of Mine Workers of America, (UMWA). The strike action was met with the company evicting the families from the company homes. 

 

      The miners union, (UMWA) then leased land on which they built tent villages for the miners and their families. By now the mine owners had recruited an armed detective agency to protect their scab labour and to harass the striking miners. The detective agency, (militiamen) often fired into the tent villages. To combat this the miners dug deep pits in the tents to protect their families. On April 20, 1914, a combined force of National Guard, and company militiamen set up a machine gun on the ridge over looking the tents at Ludlow. This resulted in the miners arming themselves to protect their families.

      Throughout the day gunfire was exchanged, but many of the tent inhabitants were able to escape to the hills. However many stayed huddle in the pits underneath their tents. At approximately 7pm in the evening, the state's and companies' armed thugs descended on the camp. The camp leader Louis Tika came forward to negotiate with the Guard commander, a Lt. Karl Linderfelt. However negotiation was not on the minds of the Guardsmen nor the militiamen.   

      What happened next is described by an eyewitness, an engineer, named Godfrey Irwin, his report states; “Suddenly an officer raised his rifle, and felled Tikas with the butt. Tikas fell face downward…we saw the militiamen fall back… they aimed their rifles and deliberately fired them into the unconscious man’s body…. it was a murder and nothing less,”

      After this cold blooded murder, the militia proceeded to spray the camp with their machine guns then moved in and torched the tents. In one tent four women and 11 children had been hiding in the pit of their tent as it burned, two of the women and all 11 children suffocated in the smoke. The final death toll is disputed, but what is certain is at least 19 to 26 people including 11 children, died at the Ludlow Massacre, all in the name of profit for the companies.

      The strike went on until December 1914 and so did the repression and deaths. This is the true face of capitalism, its blood drenched hand has stained the working class for centuries and it is not likely to change. Only when it is eradicated will we be able to walk that road to justice and a fair society.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Climate Change, Food Crisis And Venezuela.

       So what is really happening in Venezuela, don't expect the mainstream media, that babbling brook of bullshit, to shed any light on the matter, perhaps you can glean something from this video.

Food Fight! from Anarchy Now on Vimeo.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Homeless.

Just a thought------

HOMELESS.

Tenebrous spectres, they exist,   out there,

on the crumbling edge of chaos.

A father, a son, a brother,

a daughter, a sister, a mother.

Fragments of some shattered family structure;

waste products

from a society being driven to destruction

by a hurricane of greed,

living a life that wears out life,

dying,

the devious death of exhaustion from existence.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Where Have All The People Gone??

        The only way to get to grips with what is happening to Glasgow's East End, is to get down there and find out. I would imagine that if you do, and you should, the first thing you'll probably say is, "where have all the people gone?". Busy, bustling East End has been replace by a series of grandiose schemes that will push up land and house prices, excluding the ordinary people from the area. The ever creeping disease of gentrification spreads it tentacles, feeding the corporate mob and pushing the ordinary people into ghettos, out of sight of the tourists and those who can pay top dollar for their homes.

Glasgow City Council's plans for the people of Glasgow.

This from Glasgow Games Monitor:

FREE PUBLIC WALK IN THE EAST END

Saturday, 26th April, 1-5pm (12.45 for 1pm start). Meet at Bridgeton Cross Umbrella, Bridgeton

Organised by Glasgow Games Monitor 2014: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/

Regeneration is always imposed from above by local councils, government, land developers and property agents. The organisers of the Commonwealth Games 2014 and Clyde Gateway regeneration projects tell us that everyone will gain a social and economic legacy from the Games and redevelopment in the East End. But is that true?

What is that claim based on?

We say that 'regeneration' is just a sugar-coated name for gentrification: the working of land and property markets and the displacement of poor people with the aim of supposedly 'higher end' values. Large mega-events and regeneration projects like the Commonwealth Games and Clyde Gateway are prime examples of that process. Find out for yourselves! Join Glasgow Games Monitor 2014 and local residents on a public walk to investigate these claims.

In a collective 'territorial inquiry', or investigation from below, we will examine the power relations and money behind planning and policy documents, regeneration agencies, land ownership, housing privatisation, welfare 'austerity', and the organisations that claim to represent community members.

Rather than looking above for solutions to these problems, we aim to discuss and organise collectively with all those who struggle against urban injustice. We will emphasise first of all the experiences of those most directly affected by urban development (through compulsory purchase, displacement, closure of vital services, environmental disruption, road-building, etc). The lesson from similar large-scale

urban projects is that people get the best gains (in terms of social housing, services, public space and amenities) when they resist the privatising logic of 'regeneration' and organise effectively for better conditions.

ALL WELCOME. ESPECIALLY LOCAL RESIDENTS

Glasgow Games Monitor 2014: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/ Contact:

gamesmonitor2014@googlemail.com

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Knowledge.

Today's tumbling thought-----

KNOWLEDGE.

In learned books what do we gain,

argue Heidegger with Russell, Sartre, Berlin,

quote Descartes, Kant, Wittgenstein,

know all the answers

to a world we never live in.

So,   richer by far a labourer be

perhaps, never to read nor write

but with a glance, a smiling eye,

name each tree, each bird in flight.

Who'll stand in awe at a burning sunrise,

enjoy the cool moisture of a summer shower,

wonder at life in a woodland paradise,

marvel at the changing colour in every hour.

Glow at the warmth in a lover's embrace,

willingly give that gentle kiss,

lovingly touch a smiling face,

relish holding hands in silent bliss.

Experience magic through a child's sight,

know how to dry its tear,

when to lift it, hold it tight,

bringing comfort, chasing fear.

Desipient bookworms may shake their head

mock his untutored state, only see a fool;

his knowledge will stand him in greater stead,

he took his learning at a more erudite school.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The State's Soldierless War.

       War is the state's method of defending and expanding its corporate empire, but becomes increasingly difficult to sustain as public opinion starts to rebel against the continuing line of young dead and injured returning for foreign lands. Enter the drone, the ideal state weapon, war with no casualties to the perpetrator. You can carry out your carnage from a comfortable office, the young people involved can lead a normal office life. No need to get dirty, no need to be fit, no need to risk your life as you kill the others. There is something sinister and immoral about young people sitting in an office, looking at a monitor and unleashing death and devastation on unsuspecting people in another country.

       Over the last ten years or so the use of armed drones has seen an very dramatic increase and an ever increasing spread across more countries, the most recent count is that ten countries in the world have been hit by drone strikes. For a while it was Afghanistan and Pakistan that received the majority of these strikes, but in recent years they have spread to Africa. Yemen being the country that now receives daily strikes, that not only kill, but create terror among the local population of innocent people including children and elderly.

        The state will not give up on war, though we have not declared war since the end of the second world war, we have never been at peace. The US and the UK have been involved in combat in different countries across the globe almost unceasingly. Now with the advent of the drone, that job is becoming easier for the state. We make drone strikes in foreign countries, killing and maiming its citizens, without any declaration of war, we often refer to these countries as friendly nations.

       Countries with drones are on the increase, this is the shape of war to come, no declaration, no troops on the ground, no dead or injured coming home, just death and carnage in a far away place, that we don't know too much about. We are supposed to get on with watching tele and shopping, while the various states squabble as they carve up the the world's resources by means of death and destruction. We can surely do better than this.
This from Watchdog.net:

      Over half of Yemen's 24.8 million citizens hear it every day — the sound of a robot plane bringing death from the sky.
      Drone strikes don't require troops on the ground. They happen off-screen, and out of Americans' minds. But for the people of Yemen, the constant terror of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, of playing or working near a suspect of some unspecified crime, is what's breeding terrorists in an area crippled by fear.
     Enough of children's scarred skeletons, of cars reduced to melted metal, of the massacre of a foreign people without reason or mercy.
      Please, join us in demanding President Obama stop murder by drone, and stop breeding a new culture of hate, terror and trauma!
PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Drone strikes in Yemen do nothing to stop Al Qaeda and everything to terrify civilians, kill innocents and traumatize generations. Stop this brutal practice now.

Click here to sign -- it just takes a second.
Thanks,
-- The folks at Watchdog.net

P.S. If the other links aren't working for you, please go here to sign: http://act.watchdog.net/petitions/4528?n=66047434.-3y5PV

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

All In The Name Of Profit.

It's all in the name of profit.

WHEN THE TIME-BOMB GOES OFF.

The bike just sits there,

dust covering its lovely sheen,

puffing up the Fintry Hills

well,   it's no longer my scene.

Y'see,   as a Clydeside apprentice

I proudly learnt the tradesman's skill,

little did I know then

the price,    asbestos lungs that kill.

Now I just sit through the painful day

gasping each mouthful of air, wondering

how can I make the bastards pay.

They knew it was a killer

a time-bomb in our lungs

but,  because it was so quick and cheap

they firmly held their tongues.

So what,  if it cost the workman's life,

there's always a couple of new workers

in the care of the worker's wife.

Please try to understand my anger

as I and others bear their cost,

a slow death from asbestos lungs,

a vibrant life lost.

Anguish for family and friends,

all in the name of profit:

now that really does offend.

Our anger without direction

is like a blind archer behind the bow,

we have to use our anger

to smash the status-quo.

Perhaps making my dying public,

might provoke righteous indignation

at a system that puts profit

before the health of a nation.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Smoke And Mirrors Of Ukraine.

      It is difficult to get the truth of what is going on in the Ukraine, at work are vested interests, each with their own hidden agenda, the propaganda machines are at full throttle. On Ukraine, the mainstream media, that babbling brook of bullshit, has become a raging torrent of sewage. Figures and maps are thrown around, and all of them prove anything you want, or nothing at all. America accuses Russia of destabilising the country for its own interests, something the Americans should know something about, since they have been doing it across the globe for decades. Whatever information we may get from Ukraine, you can rest assured that it will not be the voice of the people of Ukraine. That story will not come through our corrupt, biased and corporate controlled media. 

       There is a very informative article by William Boardman, who writes for Reader Supported News, the article is worth a read, below is just a couple of short quotes:

     Before the Maidan began in Kiev in the fall of 2013, the Russians were allowed by treaty to have 25,000 troops in Ukraine, all in bases in Crimea. Once Russia controlled Crimea, early reports of Russian troops in Ukraine often confused this reality with other things that may or may not have been real, such as the March 7 report that the Pentagon estimated the presence of “20,000 Russian troops in Ukraine.” If true, the Russians would seem to have been under-massed by about 5,000 troops.  Whatever else was true during the Crimea takeover, there were no pictures of massive Russian troop movements. Video of Russian tanks moving to Crimea on trains were, if real, showing those tanks moving unmolested through southern Ukraine, the only rail route from Russia to Crimea.

      And there’s another constituency with a clear vested interested in pushing the Russian threat toward a new Cold War: arms makers (excuse me: “defense contractors”). As the NATO secretary general said quite plainly at the NATO Transformation Seminar, April 8:

“The reality is that Europeans have disarmed too much and for too long In NATO, we have agreed a defence spending guideline of 2% of Gross Domestic Product. Too few Allies meet this guideline. And too many have moved too far in the other direction. This is the time to stop the cuts and start reversing the trend.”

You can read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky'sa home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Dislike Of The Bond Market.

      It seems that somebody didn't like the idea of Greece re-entering the bond market last Thursday.

This from Act for Freedom Now:

 

ATHENS, Greece  — Suspected domestic exploded a car bomb outside a Bank of Greece building in the heart of Athens Thursday, causing damage but no injuries in a brazen attack hours before a landmark bond issue by the financially struggling country.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

I'm Sick.

Today's little rant-----

I'M SICK.

I'm sick of missing the theatre

when "The greatest show on earth",

arrives in town.

Sick of living through the winter

with the heating turned down.

I'm sick of seeing my kids

miss out on this and that.

Sick of living with dampness

in a run-down council flat.

I'm sick of having beans on toast

every other day.

Sick of TV shows extolling

a healthy life-style way.

I'm sick of wearing the same old jacket,

hail, rain or shine.

Sick of being told

the problem's really mine.

I'm sick of being a statistic

in some ministerial debate.

Sick of quietly letting

them decide my fate.

I'm sick of being offered work

if I accept a lower wage.

Sick of trying to control

this pent-up bubbling rage.

I'm sick-----------------

I'm not,   realy sick,

though I soon will be,

I'm just obliged to live

on benefit.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

Propaganda, Propaganda, Propaganda,

      A couple of things that recently got a lot of cover in that babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, one was Greece returning to the bond market, and the other, UK inflation dropping to 1.6%. These two pieces of information were meant to make us all feel a lot better, the propaganda machine was in full throttle. As for Greece entering the bond market, what this means is that the financial Mafia gambling cabal, had another casino in which to place their bets. They were prepared to loan the corrupt Greek state €3 billion at a nice healthy rate of interest of 4.75%, a mere drop in the bucket as far as Greek state debt is concerned. Does this mean that all is well in Greece and that the 27% unemployment, and 60% among the young, will suddenly evaporate? Does it mean that the trashed health service will, like magic, rise to the needs of the people? Will the abject poverty and deprivation be transformed into a land of milk and honey? Well perhaps a look at some of the figures might answer those questions. Greece's public debt in 2008, the date of the gambling casino collapse, was €263.3 billion, and the prediction for 2014 is €322 billion. The size of Greece's debt as a percentage of GDP in that 2008 bubble burst, was 112.9%, 2014's prediction is 175.9%. What Greece's re-entry to the bond market really means is that it is obvious gamblers can't stay away from the casino.

       The excited wetting of nickers among the millionaire cabal sitting in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, at the news the inflation in the UK has dropped for the sixth consecutive month to 1.6%, will not be transferred to the ordinary person on the street. According to a study by The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) mid-range household incomes between 2013 and 2014 were 6% below what they were before the gamblers crisis of 2008. Other interesting figures from the study state that between 2008 and 2013 inflation was 20%, energy prices rose by 60% and food prices by 30%. Where were incomes during this period? Did your income rise enough to cover that 60% rise in energy prices, or the 30% rise in food prices? It is all smoke and mirrors. The truth is that we as a people here in the UK are sliding down the shute to a sweatshop economy. Last year almost a million adults and children received emergency food parcels from food banks, a rise of 163% on the previous year. Irrespective of what the propaganda machine might say, more and more people are turning to food banks for survival. The Trussell trust has over 400 food banks and is opening two a week, compared to only three in 2012/13. Of course The Trussell trust is not the only organisation handing out food help to those in need, they are just the tip of the iceberg. What about those living in areas where there is no Trussell Trust, what about all those who just eat less and feed their kids less, perhaps too proud to seek help or unaware of where to get that help. The Trussell trust states that it is now expanding its services to include welfare advice and providing essentials such as washing powder, nappies and hygiene products, as more and more families are at breaking point and food is not their only problem. This is the true picture of Britain's low inflation figure

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Important Diary Dates.

    A couple of dates for next week, the first is on Tuesday, April 22 and is hosted by Glasgow Games Monitor 2014. The subject matter, "housing", focusing on Glasgow's East End, though not exclusively. The East End of Glasgow has seen approximately 3,000 resident shunted out to make way for "The Games". A spectacle to feed the corporate greed machine with an estimated £524 million. Of course we all know what happens to the "estimates" in all these types of affairs, they are just the starting point of the rip-off. What would £524 million do if spent on simple improving the housing and social conditions of the East End?

From Glasgow Games Monitor:

Hi all,

     Two new posts online:

(1) 'THE MEETING THEY TRIED TO BAN! HOUSING IS IN CRISIS: WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?'

     Public Meeting, Speakers and Discussion, 7-9pm, Tuesday 22nd April, St.Mungo's Academy, 235 Crownpoint Road, Bridgeton, Glasgow, G40 2RA. All Welcome!

http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2014/04/15/public-housing-meeting-tuesday-22nd-april/

    (2) 'Games Monitor on Newsnight

Scotland':http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2014/04/15/games-monitor-on-newsnight-scotland/

     Please circulate news of the housing meeting widely if possible. We want to engage with local people's experience in particular, but housing for the games and clyde gateway is a citywide issue and we welcome all those with an interest in housing issues.

Cheers,http://gamesmonitor2014.org/

       The other date is Friday, April 25, the monthly picket outside the ATOS offices in Cadogan street Glasgow. It is important that this picket continues and gains in strength. ATOS may have decided to withdraw early from its contract with the government, mainly due to the unpleasant publicity created by such pickets up and down the country. However, that doesn't mean that the government will abandon its attack on the sick and disabled. The millionaire cabal at the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, have a bucketful of leeches ready and waiting to be unleashed on the vulnerable, when ATOS leaves by the back door, having made millions at the expense of the sick and disabled. 
This from Glasgow Against ATOS:

Friday April 25, 12:30 - 15:00

ATOS Assessment Centre

Carunna House

29 Cadogan Street

Glasgow.

     We are Glasgow Against Atos, a dynamic campaign group, defending the sick and disabled. We have been picketing the Atos, Glasgow assessment centre since early 2012.
     Please come and join us in fighting Atos, the DWP and the government cuts against disabled people, their families and carers.
        The weather is getting better – so no excuses, and we’ll see you all outside the assessment centre. All welcome!

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Wreckers.

A Poem, a thought, or just a simple rant.

THE WRECKERS.

The well mannered,    who

with the proper legislation

legitimise    insanity,

with the proper legal channels,

justify    injustice,

with the proper religious devotion,

ethnic    cleanse,

with the proper academic praise,

magnify    the trivia,

with the proper pomp and ceremony,

glorify    the mediocre,

with the proper charitable phrase,

ignore   the poverty,

are the wreckers,   who

with the proper cultured dignity,

create    havoc in their wake.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Shades Of 1914!!

       The Ukraine, two empires squabbling over territory, each wants it in their sphere of interest, each prepared to slaughter the people in their quest for control, shades of 1914!! If you are in or near London this week, a date for your diary.

This from Stop The War Coalition

6.30pm, Tuesday 15 April

· The Wesley Hotel, Euston Street, London NW1 2EZ

       The crisis in the Ukraine continues, with tensions between the big powers growing day by day. There are several factors militating against war in the immediate future, including Russia’s nuclear arsenal and trade links with EU countries. But as the establishment think-tank Stratfor has argued, it would be naive to rule out a conflagration.

• Join us for a discussion about the forces behind the Ukraine conflict
• Speakers include: Jonathan Steele, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Carol Turner and John Rees
• Share the event with your Facebook contacts

        Already NATO air drills are taking place over the Baltics, and the UK and US are sending extra jets to patrol the skies. Poland has requested 10,000 NATO troops to be stationed on its territory and MPs in Kiev have voted to hold joint military exercises with NATO. In the medium to long term, NATO is looking at establishing permanent military bases in Ukraine.

• Read Stop the War's statement on the crisis in Ukraine

And for today----

A NEW DAWN,

Today we live in a peace

midst a thousand pygmy wars;

a humanity bankrupt by its past

dragged wearily through darkness and despair

yearns for a day that's cast

long, warm and fair,

a dawn that sees humankind discard

its class, its nation and prepare

to grind outworn creeds to dust,

so mankind naked is revealed,

then moving with common cause,

share

what such a dawn may yield. 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk