Brazil General Strike.

"The PL 4330 bill sets no limits to outsourcing in private and public sectors. Activities, including those linked to the core business of a company, could be outsourced.

If made law, it could lead to a large-scale replacement of direct permanent workers by outsourced workers with poorer working conditions, less protection and fewer benefits."

Read the full article HERE:

     Sound familiar? Well it should, it is a trend throughout the developed world. However in Brazil the unions are doing something about it, they are calling a general strike from the 15th April. The neo-liberalism of today uses this method to bring down working conditions and suppress wages and smash organised labour, all in the never ending quest to drive up profits and fatten the bank accounts of greed driven shareholders. 

      We can show our support by spreading this around all the social networks. Solidarity knows no borders. 

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

 

Belonging.

    Continuing with my belated start to National Poetry Month, something short.

Belonging.

A gentle kiss that bears a promise

confirmed in the philtrf smile,

soft fingers like a breath on flesh

lingering, just a while.

Sweet words that caress

loving hands that speak,

these tell my wandering heart

here is the harbour I seek.

A closeness that needs no voice

a peace that stills the storm

this special human magic, can

an arduous world transform.

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

The History Of Oil.

       Oil, the sea on which imperial bloody wars float, oil the weapon of imperial domination, Oil the ecological disaster. Not a new video, but informative and still relevant.

And on the same theme, from the Freedom Socialist:

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Past Conventions.

     Dearie me, here we are on the 9th of April and I had forgotten it was National Poetry Month. So I'll just throw this one in to get things started.

A Cage Of Past Conventions.

Life is passion ever surging,

we must grasp the moment

changing apathy to hope

dreams to life;

set freedom freely flowing,

fiercely remaining

a river of desire.

Seek freedom from the reverence of the past,

freedom from nation, name and caste,

let freedom drench the eager heart

changing our life to a living art.

Yet,   foolishly we seek false assurances

locked in a cage of past conventions;

bidding our heart take the safest stance,

afraid to dance a forbidden dance.

Afraid of beauty, remembering pain,

shackling tomorrow to yesterday's chain,

sowing seeds of regret;

living lives in rigid schemes

labouring to forget,

only freedom can free our dreams.

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

The Illusion Of Democracy.

       Our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, is in full tilt throwing out the usual crap concerning our latest Crooks and Liars competition, known as the general election. TV is giving us "the leaders' debates" where we hear the well rehearsed sound bites, or bursts of pointless growling and snarling between "the Leaders", ah, where would we be without "our leaders". The babbling brook of bullshit create the illusion that during the Crooks and Liars competition you are free to roam the streets spouting your particular message to the general public, they call it "democracy". But what if your message is contrary to the accepted views of the powers that be? Will you still be free, in this "democracy" to go about spreading your opinion? Well apparently not, you will find yourself and your supporters being put under the watchful eye of the system's minders, and threatened and harassed at every opportunity. 

This from The Void:

       Lisa McKenzie, who is standing for Class War  against Iain Duncan Smith in Chingford, was arrested last night in the latest petty police attack on the group’s election campaign.

      Lisa was accused of putting a small sticker on a wall two weeks previously and thrown into the back of a van, hand-cuffed and held for hours.  She has been charged with criminal damage. The arrest took place at last night’s Poor Doors demonstration, the weekly picket of the luxury tower block in Aldgate where tenants in social housing are forced to use a different door to the rich.  According to one onlooker police insisted her arrest was nothing to do with the election campaign against Iain Duncan Smith.  They must think we are fucking idiots.

     When Lisa and Class War recently went on the campaign trail in Chingford they were followed by police, repeatedly harassed and threatened with arrest.  Class War candidate for Croydon South, Jon Bigger, was recently followed around the constituency by up to a dozen coppers just for handing out leaflets.

       At previous Poor Doors protests police arrested high profile Class War supporter Jane Nicholl, threatening her with ludicrous arson charges after somebody allegedly burnt a small effigy of Boris Johnson.  At a later demonstration police seized a Class War banner they said had a rude word on it and arrested the person holding it.  One of Class War’s founders, Ian Bone, has also been arrested at the protests for equally trivial reasons.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Prejudiced, Crap Legislation.

       All states pass legislation that, to the rational mind, is just plain wrong. We all know why, simply to protect the status-qua. However, that "land of the free", the Good ol' US of A, takes the trophy for some of the most blatant, prejudiced legislation in the Western world. A recent article in the Freedom Socialist, (Voice of Revolutionary Feminism) highlights one such a piece of ignorant, blatant, prejudiced crap, that passes for law.

 Silence Mumia Abu-Jamal? Never!

     “Social change and social transformation form the raison d’etre of Goddard.”

     Mumia Abu-Jamal spoke these revolutionary words by phone from his prison cell during his commencement speech to Goddard College on Oct. 4, 2014.

     Abu-Jamal, a renowned journalist skilled at exposing crimes of the U.S. “justice” system, was framed for the killing of Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981, and sentenced by a judge who vowed to “fry that n––––r.” Now, Faulkner’s widow Maureen claims she’s upset that Mumia, a “radical who hates America,” is allowed to speak to journalists and the public. That’s why the day after Mumia’s speech, Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania’s outgoing Republican governor, introduced the Revictimization Relief Act of 2014. The Act criminalizes public speech by offenders that causes “mental anguish” and punishes any journalist who quotes such speech.

       This new law reveals an appalling trend by cops trying to gag those who publicly criticize the U.S. justice system, especially political radicals. In December 2014, St. Louis police demanded an apology from five St. Louis Rams players who entered the field with their hands up, a gesture cops deemed “offensive, tasteless, and inflammatory.”

     Notably, not Faulkner, Corbett, or the St. Louis cops have tried to ban bigoted speech by the KKK or Westboro Baptist church to protect the feelings of their victims. This shows that Pennsylvania’s lofty Revictimization Relief Act has nothing to do with helping victims, and everything to do with silencing political dissent. (For more information, visit prisonradio.org.)

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

Rehabilitation And All That Crap.

Understanding and Tolerance.
        This UK “democracy” charade that we live under has many anomalies, none more so than our prison system. Spouted as the land of freedom, tolerance, compassion, England locks up more of its population than any other Western European country, a staggering 147 per 100,000 of its people are in prison. Since the start of 1993, the number of its citizens locked up in prison has risen from 41,600 to more than 80,000. Further increases are expected. Of course Scotland follows the same trajectory with a 10% rise since 1996/97 to almost 7,000. Northern Ireland saw a fall in the 90's but has now started to follow the UK trend, up to around 1,400. Another massive rise has been in the number of citizens serving life or indeterminate sentences, 7,600 in August 2006, a rise of 27% in a year.

Overcrowding and Ever Growing Prisons.
      Many prisons have more inmates than their target limit, but are at a level considered “safe”. According to this definition, prisons have been overcrowded every year since 1994. Of course the state always works on the theory of ever increasing problems with its citizens, so always plans for more spaces. Since 1997, more than 17,000 extra prison spaces have been created. A further 8,000 are planned,

Bad People, or People With Problems?
      Most perceptions of prisoners are fashioned by the babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, and come under the category of “bad “ people. However facts prove otherwise. Almost 50% of prisoners ran away as a child, this compares with 11% of the general population. Almost one third of female and 50% of male prisoners, were excluded from school, with a large majority having no qualifications. Prisons are also dumping dens for for a large amount of those with mental health problems. The prison population has a very large proportion of those with two or more mental health problems. In the general public this figures is less than 5%, in prisons that figure is 72% of male and 70% of female prisoners who fall into that category.

Despair and Violence.
     Prisons are described by the powers that be, as places of rehabilitation, but are in fact places of despair and violence. In the year 2005-6, a shocking 63 prisoners took their own lives. There are on average, over 20,000 incidents of self harm a year. 50% of those who self harm are women, though the account for only 5% of the prison population. To further undermine that false theory of prisons being places of rehabilitation, approximately two thirds of prisoners are re-convicted within two years. Among the younger prisoners released, aged 18-21, almost 75% are re-convicted within two years. And to finally kill of that “rehabilitation” crap, approximately one third of released prisoners have no place to stay, and a majority will have no job on release. Added to that is the brutal fact that six out of 10 employers automatically exclude those with a criminal record. 

 

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Mumia Abu-Jamal Appeal.

Regarding the appeal on behave of Mumia Abu-Jamal,

Corrected phone number for PA Gov Tom Wolf:  717-787-2500

Click HERE to view in browser     PLEASE SHARE WIDELY       

A Victory For The Prison Hunger Strikers.

       A victory for solidarity, and the determination of those on hunger strike. An action taken to force the state to stop its vindictive collective punishment, to free those relatives of the prisoners who were being held for no other reason than they were relatives.

 Inter Arma received and translated:

THE  HUNGER STRIKE OF THE CONSPIRACY OF CELLS OF FIRE WAS VICTORIOUS

      Today is a day that a crack in the walls of the imprisoned world around us has opened. After 32 days of hunger strike, the mother of Christos and Gerasimos Tsakalos and the girlfriend of the latter will soon pass the exit of prison, free again…

      32 days of hunger strike, with eight comrades of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire being hospitalized, balancing between life and death. Mihalis found himself in the ICU the last few days, Olga has reached 40 kilos, Panagiotis had an already compromised health from previous surgeries on his head, George P. has a problem with his heart, with his heart-beats reaching 30 and all of them had medical measurements indicating that they lost 15-20% of their initial body weight.

      32 days, the hunger strike became a daily, slow torment of death, in order for us not to make truce with the absolute death of emotional blackmail. An insidious blackmail which authority wanted to impose on us by abducting and keeping our relatives as hostages in prison. 32 days of hunger strike, every fading beat of our heart, reminded us of the promise we made together when we met for the last time, “Let’s go, until freedom …”.

      After 32 days of hunger strike, the shadow of repression grew pale, the walls of captivity lowered and prison admitted defeat.

      This victory is not only the result of the hunger strike of the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire. It’s a victory of a whole world of solidarity with arson attacks, occupations, sabotage, marches, gatherings, unexpected interventions, which broke social peace, turned cities into fields of insurrectional moments and occupied buildings into living labs of subversive situations. In an everyday life where the desire for freedom has been suspended indefinitely, life flooded with small and large liberation gestures, with fires, with slogans and sparkling eyes of persons who wore hoods.

We are flooded with many thoughts that want to fill with words the corresponding meanings. But now, there is neither a day for celebration, nor for accounts of victory. Today we stop the hunger strike, having beaten the scarecrows of authority who wanted our relatives in prison, BUT at the same time the hunger strike of the remaining political prisoners, for the overall requests that have been set, continues. The days that follow are critical both for their health and for the total bet of anarchist struggle. Therefore, there is no time neither for relaxing, nor for victory celebration. The die is cast long time ago… We, as the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, remain on the ramparts and prepare our counter-attack, supporting the struggle conducted within and outside prison.

Authority and it’s scarecrows should know that every judicial coup, every jail, every moment of oppression, every propaganda lie, every shade of bourgeois morality will return back to its instigators and owners, with multiple power and vehemence. With the power and vehemence of sabotage, fire, explosion, execution… In war, we answer with war. Time for us to attack first…

STRENGTH AND SOLIDARITY with anarchist comrade Nikos Maziotis. member of R.S., and the Network of Fighting Prisoners

VICTORY TO THE STRUGGLE OF THE HUNGER STRIKE

EVERYTHING CONTINUES…

Conspiracy of Cells of Fire – FAI/IRF,
Imprisoned members’ Cell,

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The State Has Many Ways To Take Your Life.

URGENT!  URGENT!  URGENT!

Mon. April 6 national call in: No medical execution of Mumia!

 

PLEASE SHARE WIDELY    

SAVE THE LIFE OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL!

STOP HIS EXECUTION BY MEDICAL NEGLECT!

DON’T LET THE STATE MURDER ANOTHER BLACK LEADER!

SHUT IT DOWN FOR MUMIA!

     Stopped from carrying out the death penalty against Mumia Abu-Jamal by a worldwide movement that spanned three decades, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has been attempting over the past three months to execute him by medical neglect.

      On March 30, Abu-Jamal was rushed, unconscious, to the Schuylkill Medical Center in Pottsville, Pa., suffering from diabetic shock, with a dangerously high blood sugar level of 779.   After just two days of treatment in the hospital’s ICU, on April 1, Abu-Jamal was returned to the prison infirmary at SCI Mahanoy in Frackville, Pa., into the hands of the very same doctors whose medical neglect and mistreatment nearly killed him.

      Prison officials initially denied visits by family members, supporters and Abu-Jamal’s attorneys and only backed down after receiving thousands of calls. Those able to visit Mumia on April 3 reported he was extremely weak, had lost 80 pounds, and still had elevated blood sugar levels over 300. For lunch that day the prison fed him spaghetti, one of the worst foods to give a diabetic patient.

The murder of aging political prisoners by denying them inadequate health care has happened before. Earlier this year, MOVE 9 member Phil Africa died under suspicious circumstances at SCI Dallas. The lack of standard medical treatment impacts all prisoners, particularly those over 55.

     We are demanding that the state of Pennsylvania cease and desist in their attempts to murder political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal:

●Allow daily visits by Mumia’s family, friends and attorneys. Their support and protection at this time of vulnerability should not be restricted.

●Allow Mumia’s choice of specialist doctors to examine and schedule treatment for him -- NOW. Neither the prison staff at SCI Mahanoy nor the Schuylkill Medical Center has a diabetes specialist. There is precedent in Pennsylvania for this. Prisoner John E. du Pont, an heir to the du Pont chemical fortune, was allowed care by private doctors during imprisonment. Mumia deserves the same.

●Release Mumia’s medical records to his attorneys.

●Release from prison all the elderly age 55 and over. Mumia will turn 61 on April 24.

●Allowa full investigation of prison health care in Pennsylvania.

●Mumia is innocent and should never have been incarcerated. We demand his immediate release.

     We are calling on everyone to participate in the following actions over the next few days:

●Twitter widely using the hashtags #mumiamustlive,  #saveMumia and #Blacklivesmatter.

●Call, fax and email the following state officials to raise the above demands:

~ DOC Secretary John Wetzel: 717-728-4109; crpadocsecretary@pa.gov.

~ Gov. Tom Wolf: 717-772-5000; fax 717-772-8284; governor@pa.gov.

~ Prison Superintendent John Kerestes: 570-773-2158; contact.doc@pa.gov.

●MONDAY, APRIL 6: A car caravan will demand to see Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Superintendent John Wetzel at the DOC office: 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 at 11 a.m. Cars leaving Philadelphia will gather at 7 a.m. on JFK Boulevard between 30th and 31st Streets (across from Bolt and Mega buses). If you can offer rides or need a ride, call or text Joe Piette at 610-931-2615 or email jpiette660@hotmail.com.

●TUESDAY, APRIL 7: Press conference in Philadelphia at 11 a.m. outside

District Attorney Seth Williams’ office at Juniper Street & South Penn Square (across from City Hall, near Macy’s).

●FRIDAY, APRIL 10: Organize a demonstration in your city, on your campus, wherever you can get out word to stop this attempt to murder Mumia. We need to SHUT IT DOWN FOR MUMIA!

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

Capitalist Success, The Growth Of Fatcats.

      Everybody that is in touch with the ordinary people of this country is fully aware that the financial Mafia's policy of "austerity", under the stewardship of the Oxbridge millionaire duo, of Cameron and Osbourne, has returned the living conditions of some of our people back to the Victorian era. The tactics used have been varied, from bedroom tax, to slave labour workfare, from cuts in welfare benefits, disability allowance, etc. to zero hours contracts. Wages have been depressed for more than 5 years, while energy prices have taken off like a series of Soyuz rockets.

      Despite this actual scenario of poverty, the coming Crooks and Liars competition, known as the general election, is pushing the babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, to spew out an ever increasing flow of its main ingredient, bullshit. According to reports from the mouths of Oxbridge millionaire puppets, we are blessed with capitalist success. Everybody is working, everybody is better off, we have the best economic growth in Europe, so run out and vote for the best Crooks and Liars, the Tories, and get more of the same.

      How do we square this with the recent report from NASUWT, teaching union, which states that it is witnessing kids in "Victorian conditions"? According to the report based on a survey of 2,452 teachers, kids are turning up at school hungry, tired and wearing inappropriate clothes due to a continuing squeeze on family finances. It states that some kids are arriving at school with no socks, no coat, and is also aware of more families depending on food banks. It also draws attention to the fact that many children are being degraded and damaged by poverty and homelessness.

     Some other findings from the report are, almost seven in 10 (69%) of teachers said they have seen pupils coming to school hungry, while eight in 10 (80%) have witnessed youngsters turning up in clothes that are inappropriate for the weather with a similar proportions reported children arriving in unwashed or damaged and frayed clothing, a further three in four (78%) said they have seen pupils without appropriate footwear. The survey also said that it had noted "Pupils who come into school unwell. Often their parents cannot afford to take a day off work, and therefore send their children to school when they ought to be at home."

     This is the true picture of capitalist success, the growth of wealth, but no account of how that wealth is spread. Yes, more people are working, but poorer, yes, the wealth of the country is growing, but we the people don't get a share. Balance sheets that take no account of the well being of the ordinary people, everything is measured in profit and loss to the corporate world.

      Why do we go through with this charade of democracy, playing the parasites' game of the Crooks and Liars competition, and electing another bunch of self seeking careerists, who will continue the plundering of the public purse and appeasing the corporate world at the expense of the well being of us, who create all that wealth?

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

Bairns Not Bombs, Glasgow.

 

       Glasgow's Scrap trident march on Saturday April 4th, was a very well attended affair. I'm no mathematician, but I put the attendance around the two thousand mark. The march was a colourful affair with an array of banners from different groups around the country, from Stirling to Ayrshire to Edinburgh and more. There was the ECAP banner, (Edinburgh Campaign Against Poverty) IWW, peace camps, CND, Scottish Socialist Party, and a Black and Red anarchist flag. There were literally hundreds of Bairns not Bombs placards, which I think encapsulates the mind set of the Scottish people.

FILE0012 from ann arky on Vimeo.

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