The Society Of The Spectacle.

     Guy Debord (1931-­1994) was the most influential figure in the Situationist International, the notorious subversive group that played a key role in provoking the May 1968 revolt in France. "The Society of the Spectacle" (1973, 90 minutes) is Debord's film adaptation of his own 1967 book of the same name. As passages from the book are read in voiceover the text is illuminated, via direct illustration or various types of ironic contrast, by clips from Russian and Hollywood features ("Potemkin," "Ten Days That Shook the World," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Shanghai Gesture," "Johnny Guitar," "Mr. Arkadin," etc.), TV commercials, softcore porn, and news and documentary footage, including glimpses of Spain 1936, Hungary '56, Watts '65, France '68, and other revolts of the past. Inter-title quotes from Marx, Machiavelli, Clausewitz, Tocqueville, and Debord himself occasionally break the flow, challenging the viewers to question their own relation to the film -- and to the society as a whole. San Francisco filmmaker Konrad Steiner has produced a dubbed version of this film using Ken Knabb’s English translation as read by artist/scholar Dore Bowen. Konrad also located and reinserted the original English-language clips from the many quoted films (which in Debord's film were mostly dubbed in French). This enables English-speaking viewers to pay full attention to the images instead of trying to follow subtitles, and thus better perceive the complex interplay between montage, image, and language through which Debord presents his theses.

 
(English overdub) The Society of the Spectacle (Final sound edit) from konrad steiner on Vimeo.

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

State Repression Continues.

        As the vindictive Greek state sticks to its inhumane policies, the life of Evi Statiri ebbs away. She is being held in prison simply because she is the relative of a prisoner. However, protests continue, but need all our support and solidarity. 

Poster reads:

FREEDOM FOR EVI STATIRI WHO CONDUCTS HUNGER STRIKE SINCE SEPTEMBER 14TH When the Power fail to make subversive prisoners bow down to them, they target their close and supportive environment, seeking to punish what goes beyond the polarity between innocence and guilt: solidarity.

      As of today, September 30th 2015, we participate in the mobilisation of prisoners throughout Greece (at the prisons of Trikala, Domokos, Grevena, and the women’s and men’s prisons of Koridallos in Athens) for the immediate RELEASE of Evi Statiri, wife of political prisoner-member of the Cells of Fire Gerasimos Tsakalos.
      Evi has already been admitted to the General State Hospital of Nikaia, having entered her 16th day on hunger strike.
     Solely responsible for her life are the justice minister — who enacted an amendment-scrap of paper for the cessation of prosecution against relatives of inmates, which nevertheless remains inactive — as well as the judicial council where the request for Evi’s release has been filed – who are procrastinating at the expense of her constantly deteriorating health.
      Until Evi is released from prison, we refuse the midday lock-up and count in our cells.
       Initiative of Political Prisoners
Koridallos Prisons Underground Annex [*]
September 30th 2015
        [*] basement in Koridallos women’s prison, a special high-security unit for men where those convicted as members of armed revolutionary organisations, including anarchist comrades, are being held separately from the general population of inmates

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

US Police Kill 234 Black People In 6 Months.

          An appeal from Color Of Change, an an organisation fighting police racism and brutality in the US. The figures speak for themselves, 234 Black individuals kill by the police in six months. What country can tolerate such blatant racial brutality, no way can a country be called civilizied that tolerates such racial brutality.

    My name is Scott Roberts, and this is my third day as Criminal Justice Director at ColorOfChange. For months, I have admired the hard work of ColorOfChange members like you and I am honored to be joining this critical community of people committed to achieving Black liberation — especially at a time like this.
   In the past 6 months, police have killed at least 234 Black people nationwide — an average of more than 1 person a day. 1

It’s a painfully familiar story:
        Police — driven by explicit or implicit anti-Black racism — brutalize or kill a Black person who is doing nothing more than shopping at the grocery store, driving home from work, playing in the park or reaching out for help;2,3,4,5 Law enforcement and police associations then criminalize the victim, often lying, filing false police reports or planting evidence to cover up the truth.6 The media jumps on board, but within just a few days or weeks journalists stop covering the story; the community and family are left broken hearted, fighting a near impossible fight for justice, which is almost always denied.7
      We must stop this vicious cycle. As we know from past experiences, police cannot police themselves. Prosecutors rely greatly on police for help with their cases, which makes it far less likely they will risk the political fallout that comes with holding abusive and discriminatory officers accountable. If we want justice, we need to be ready to take matters into our own hands.
       Will you donate $5 a month to our Rapid Response Private Investigator Fund? If enough people contribute, we can put independent investigators on the ground following police violence targeting Black people to help expose the truth and build momentum for justice.
     Following Sandra Bland’s tragic death in Waller County, TX you and more than 3,000 ColorOfChange members donated to hire a private investigator. It was clear from day one that Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis and Sheriff Glenn Smith would likely fail to properly investigate Sandra's death. If her family hadn't raised their voices, the public would've never seen the video of Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia racially profiling and violently arresting Sandra — DA Mathis was ready to wash his hands and rule Sandra's death a suicide, no questions asked.
      Part 1 of our investigation was released last week, and the results are deeply disturbing. Attorney Paul Looney, who was appointed by the Sheriff to lead an investigation into the Sheriff Department, has confirmed that the investigation is a sham: "We're not trying to do an exposé...[Sheriff Glenn Smith] can read it or not read it...if he wants to throw the whole thing in the trash can, he can.’"8
      This is exactly the type of information we need to help secure justice for Sandra. Following cases of police violence, local officials often wait for the media attention to fade away before denying justice to Black families suffering one of the worst injustices this world has to offer. But we can't let that happen. A Rapid Response Private Investigator Fund will allow us to uncover the truth, keep the media attention alive and expose the different forms of anti-Black racism in an area in order to plan campaigns for systemic change.
     Tragically, police will kill hundreds more Black people in the coming months and we must be ready to act quickly. This fall marks 10 years that ColorOfChange members have taken action to strengthen and amplify Black political power in America. In the coming days, you will receive a number of different fundraisers asking you to support the critical work of our community in the years ahead. We depend on you. Your donations — the hard-earned dollars you give because you believe in justice — are what sustain our work.
      Private investigators cost on average $5,000. If just 3,000 ColorOfChange members gave $5 a month for at least 6 months we could afford to hire at least 15 private investigators. Click here to donate.

Onward,
— Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Lyla and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
September 30th, 2015
References
1. "National Police Violence Map," We the Protesters, updated 9/21/2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5370?t=4&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

2. "No Charges in Ohio Police Killing of John Crawford as Wal-Mart Video Contradicts 911 Caller Account," Democracy Now! 9-25-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4477?t=6&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

3. "‘I will light you up!': Texas officer threatened Sandra Bland with Taser during traffic stop," Washington Post 7-22-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5045?t=8&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

4. "As investigation enters fifth month, Tamir Rice’s mother has moved into a homeless shelter," Washington Post 05-04-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5371?t=10&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

5. "'Black women unnamed': how Tanisha Anderson's bad day turned into her last," The Guardian 06-05-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5372?t=12&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

6. "Walter Scott, Michael Slager, Taser planted?" Slate 04-07-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5373?t=14&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

7. "Thousands dead, few prosecuted," Washington Post 04-11-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4861?t=16&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

8. "The Sandra Bland Investigation Is In Trouble," Huffington Post 9-24-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5349?t=18&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

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

Disaster,---Tearoom Closed!!!

       Well the month of September proved to be a wonderful month for an old wrinkly fair weather cyclist. Pity about the rest of the year. Up round the Campsie area again, sadly my favourite wee tearoom was closed when I got there. So it was just a matter of carrying on, and then heading home for that plate of soup. I thought I was taking a very picturesque little scene, but sadly the photo didn't turn out quite like I expected. Never the less here it is, it still marks a delightful run.

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

Solitary Confinement Is Torture.

      The state likes to keep everybody in line, no disobeying rules, always do as you are told, it works hard at this with the early stages being our education system, and as you go through your life there is a tsunami of propaganda that washes over you on a daily basis, reinforcing conformity. In case this doesn't work there are the police and the judicial system, backed up by the prison system, and by any stretch of the imagination, on entering this, we have left the realms of humanity.

      Within the inhumane system of locking people up in cages, there are degrees of repression that can take you deeper into the morass of dehumanising, in an attempt to turn the individual into a submissive clone of a human. Solitary confinement breaks every aspect of humanity, we are social creatures, to take somebody and lock them away from any human contact, any form of mental stimulation, for days, weeks and months, is nothing short of torture, to break the individual. There is nothing reforming, or rehabilitating about the prison system, it is a tool of state repression to protect its apparatus and power.

      There has been a long running series of hunger strikes at the Menard Correction Center Illinois, against the excessive use of solitary confinement, like all prisoners, they need our support and solidarity.

An appeal from Anti-State STL: 

       On September 23rd, prisoners in the administrative detention unit at Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois declared a hunger strike in response to the administration’s continued unwillingness to respond to their demands for relief from their conditions of long-term solitary confinement. See below for their list of demands and description of their conditions. This strike is a continuation of a series of hunger strikes by the prisoners there, which began in January 2014.

Read the full article HERE:

    

Our core demands are:

· We demand an end to long term solitary confinement.

    We demand minimum due process at Administrative Detention Review Hearings by providing inmates with written reasons, including new information relied upon, for Committee’s decision for our continued placement in A.D. and be allowed to grieve all adverse decisions. As it stands, the basis of the Committee’s votes are kept secret.
      We demand more access to outside recreation for the sake of our physical and mental health. As it stands, we are confined indefinitely to these cages for 6 days out of the week, with the exception of one 5-hour day. This is unbearable.
      We demand that meaningful educational programs be implemented to encourage our mental stability, rehabilitation, and social development for the sake of ourselves and our communities that we will one day return to.
     We demand access to more visiting privileges. For most of our families traveling to Menard is like traveling to another state. Considering the distance, 2-hour visits behind plexiglass is insufficient. We should be allowed 5 or 6 hours. Moreover, our family members, including inmates, should be provided the human dignity and decency to purchase food items and refreshments from vending machines after traveling such great distances. This would benefit one’s social development, as well as benefit prison staff environment.
        We ask the public’s help by calling the warden, the Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, and the Governor on September 23, 2015, and so forth, to check on our welfare.

Warden Kimberly Butler, 618-826-5071
Menard Correctional Center
711 Kaskaskia Street
Menard, IL 62259

Director John Baldwin, 217-558-2200
Illinois Department of Corrections
1301 Concordia Court
P. O. Box 19277
Springfield, IL 52794-9277

Governor Bruce Rauner, 217-782-0244
Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706

       We will stay on [hunger strike] as long as possible in order to hopefully bring some change to our conditions. We thank you for any kind of support you can give us.

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

Only The People Will Help The People.

       Groups of ordinary people are organising to take necessary supplies to Calais to help those fleeing the bloodshed in the Middle East. In Exarchia in Athens, anarchist have taken over an empty building and are turning it into a temporary residence for refugees. It seems that the only people making an effort to help the people fleeing the Western imperialist created cauldron in the Middle East, are the ordinary people. Governments across Europe prefer to sit in marble halls and talk, each accusing the other of not doing enough, or doing it all wrong, while those in need continue to suffer.

       States are very efficient at organising for war, but fail miserably when it comes to peace and solidarity. The final answer to the problems of the ordinary people will only come when, they themselves take control and shape society for the benefit of all. Solidarity, mutual aid, co-operation, seeing to the needs of all our people, can only be done by the people, freed from the profit motive.

From Anarchist News:

       A huge banner reading "Refugees Welcome Home" is draped across the front of a derelict building in Exarchia, Athens – a district that's generally regarded as the spiritual home to the city's anarchist movement. On Tuesday morning, members of the Anti-authoritarian Movement Athens (AK) occupied a former university dining hall, with the aim of transforming it into a temporary residence for refugees. They want to fix up the space and make it fit to accommodate refugee and migrant families arriving in Athens.
        Crossing a rubble-strewn courtyard, I entered the building to find members of AK making plans for an open meeting later that day. They offered to show me around and explained that before any refugees can be housed, they'll need to work together to clean, disinfect and make the place habitable. The truth is that it'll take a hell of a lot of time and effort because at the moment it's just a building site. The three floors are vast and empty. The ground level consists of a sort of living room, plus what's left of the old kitchen and bathrooms. The first and second floor will accommodate the families, while there are also plans to turn the basement into a storage area. Once complete, it's estimated that the building will accommodate up to 200 people.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Syrian Kurdistan.

        Donnacha DeLong, Circled A Radio, returns this week with a show about what's happening in Syrian Kurdistan, with an activist who has seen first hand the new society Kurds are trying to build in the midst of conflict. Features Tottenham's own Zaher Baher talking about what's going on in Rojava in Syria and why they need our solidarity. 

Listen Now:

From Libcom By Zaher Baher, from Haringey Solidarity Group and Kurdistan Anarchists Forum

Also a talk on the subject from last year's Anarchist Bookfair.

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

Elegy Written In A Country Graveyard.

        A few verses from, Elegy Written in a Country Graveyard, by Thomas Gray, a poem that moved me as a child at school, and still one of my favourites.

Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,

         Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;

Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile

         The short and simple annals of the poor.

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,

         And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,

Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.

         The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault,

         If Mem'ry o'er their tomb no trophies raise,

Where thro' the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault

         The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.

Can storied urn or animated bust

         Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?

Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,

         Or Flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid

         Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;

Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,

         Or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre.

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page

         Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll;

Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,

         And froze the genial current of the soul.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene,

         The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:

Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,

         And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast

         The little tyrant of his fields withstood;

Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,

         Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.

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

An Appeal For Solidarity And Help.

I'M PASSING ON - PLEASE READ THIS.

       Hi there: Several different groups from Glasgow are planning to take things to Calais in the week starting Monday 12th October so we are having one last push to collect donations to take.
      WE NO LONGER NEED ANY MORE CLOTHES - thank you to everyone who has donated clothes but we have been overwhelmed and have more than enough. The clothes are being sorted and some will be donated to charities in Glasgow, others will be sold on to raise funds to help pay for taking things to Calais. A lot of the clothes are going to be sent by container to refugee camps in the Lebanon and elsewhere.

CAN YOU HELP PREPARE THE CAMP IN CALAIS FOR THE COMING WINTER BY
DONATING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING?
- saws,
- hammers,
- screwdrivers,
- crow-bars,
- boltcutters,
- spades
- pickaxes,
- work gloves
- nails and screws,
- wood burners
- camping gas cookers
- cooking pots [not crockery or cutlery please]
- water containers,
- candles,
- tents,
- tarpaulins
- plastic sheeting
- sleeping bags
- blankets.
- Push bikes

       Donations can be dropped off at the St Pauls Building opposite Strathclyde Student Union, 90 John Street G1 1JH MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS & FRIDAYS from 4pm - 7pm.

PLEASE HELP FUND US
       We're also looking to raise money to cover the cost of an extra van from Glasgow. If you can help support us please make a donation to the Calais Solidarity Mission
https://www.indiegogo.com/…/solidarity-mission-to-calais-ca…

Thanks!

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

A cool day, on a cool bike.

How can you not be captivated by the Loch?

       Looking at September, I think some how, some where, somebody, has got our season mixed up. March to August is our cold wet and windy Autumn, followed some how by our September summer, then we can expect our October to March to be our lousy cold, windy, winter. Spring is some kind of illusion.

        In saying that, today I had another nice day up the Loch, you know the one. When I left the north end of Glasgow, it was warm with lots of sunny intervals and little cloud. The loch side was cool, and rather cloudy, not the sun caressing my ageing body with warmth, that I had hoped for, never the less, a great day.

 The plate of soup is just round the next bend.

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

America, A World Of Wealth And Squalor.

      America, land of the free, the pinnacle of capitalist development, probably the richest country in the world. So we should look to it to see the wonderful benefits of the capitalist system. In capitalist terms, America is successful. In the last six years America's wealth has grown by approximately 60%, during roughly the same time America's homeless children has grown by the same amount, 60%. In that American success story of capitalism, 16 million, 22% of families, live below the federal poverty level. 45% of families live in the low income level, and 16 million kids qualify for food stamps.

       Child poverty is field in which the great American capitalist dream leads the world. 

And from the Washington Post:

America is a 'Leader' in Child Poverty
       The U.S. has one of the highest relative child poverty rates in the developed world. As UNICEF reports, "[Children's] material well-being is highest in the Netherlands and in the four Nordic countries and lowest in Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and the United States."  Over half of public school students are poor enough to qualify for lunch subsidies, and almost half of black children under the age of six are living in poverty. With 32.2 percent of children living below this line, the U.S. ranks 36th out of the 41 wealthy countries included in the UNICEF report. By contrast, only 5.3 percent of Norwegian kids currently meet this definition of poverty.

      The sad and horrific conditions of the citizens of the wealthiest country in the world goes on, in every aspect of their lives, poverty overwhelms them in the midst of opulence.

Nevertheless, other measures of child well-being tend to confirm what the high childhood poverty rate suggests: According to a UNICEF report on 29 similarly affluent countries, American children rank 25th in safety, 27th in education, and 23rd in housing and environment, among other metrics. These results are less open to charges of political bias; the education ranking, for example, bases its findings mostly on school participation rates and international test scores.

       So this is where capitalist success leads us, low incomes, child poverty, poor education, but richer and richer countries, where that wealth is channelled into fewer and fewer hands. 

And from Polizeros:

Los Angeles just realized it has a ginormous Skid Row problem and is galloping to the rescue with alleged plans to help the homeless. Bizarrely, this happened right after a devastating L.A. Weekly article detailed just how hideous things there are now. I guess the article shamed the city into doing something.
Skid Row in Los Angeles is so dangerous and disease-ridden that Union Rescue Mission workers are afraid to eat lunch at nearby restaurants and its CEO is now confined to a wheelchair due to bacterial infections he got from walking around the area. It’s at least as bad as diseased third world cities.
I lived in L.A. for years so pardon my skepticism, but I’m guessing the plan involves chasing the homeless out of the Skid Row, sterilizing and fumigating the area, then gentrifying it. Sure, housing for homeless might help some of them. However many homeless prefer living on the street and the plans don’t involve looking at roots causes, like what caused them to be homeless and, often, addicted to something. It’ll be out of sight, out of mind. The homeless will go elsewhere.
Andy Bales, the CEO now in a wheelchair, says “conditions on Skid Row are worse than they have ever been in the 11 years I’ve been here and I would venture to say that they are the worst and the most violent and the most lawless they have ever been.” He had a blister that became infected with E. coli, staph,, and strep while walking around, even though wearing a special boot. It quickly became hideously infected.

The shockingly unsanitary conditions found on Skid Row are rarely seen outside the Third World. In 2013, public health officials discovered a strain of tuberculosis believed unique to the area. And while all this makes just walking down the street dangerous, for diabetics and other people with compromised immune systems, it can be deadly.

Monochrome photos from "Making-invisible-visible"

 

Corporate Fascism's Strangle Hold.

         Every day it becomes ever more clear that the world is not controlled by governments, but by corporations. More and more the big corporations and the financial Mafia, shape the structure of our societies, they dictate to governments the policies that they want, and these policies are never for the benefit of the citizens of those countries. All is to maximise profit for their shareholders, anything that gets in the way of that aim, has to be removed. This corporate fascism is not in its initial stages, they are at the point of dotting the i's and crossing the t's to finalise their total control over our lives, irrespective of what government you vote in to power. Today we have the illusion of democracy, tomorrow we will real corporatism. The shape of our world will be in the hands of CEOs in the marble halls of corporate power. If you're naive enough to believe that you can somehow stop this by voting in some messiah and a bunch of their cronies, you will be sadly disappointed. Governments are the paid managers of the corporate plan, the are there to give the corporate fascism the semblance of legitimise, and to control the civil population.

An appeal from Global Justice Now:

        Remember the secret corporate courts that allow corporations to sue governments for protecting their citizens?
         Following pressure from thousands of people like you from across Europe, the European Commission has now admitted that these courts are bad in their current form. However, the EU now wants to sign a lesser-known toxic trade agreement leaving our government open to huge law suits for things like raising the minimum wage or stopping fracking.

Take action now to stop the corporate courts.

        Today is one year since the EU and Canada finished negotiating the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). Our elected representatives in the EU parliament will vote on CETA next year. We need to remind them that as they have already rejected secret corporate courts, they will also have to reject CETA.

Tell your Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) it’s time to reject CETA now.

        CETA is TTIP's little brother. It poses major threats to our public services, local jobs, the environment, and to the safety of our food. We’re facing raft of dangerous trade deals, and as CETA is the furthest progressed, it is vital we stop this toxic deal.

Best wishes

Guy Taylor
Global Justice Now trade campaigner

Join Global Justice Now:
Become part of the movement for a more just and equal
world by joining as a member today. Join now.

Connect with us: Twitter | Facebook

Our mailing address is:
Global Justice Now
66 Offley Road, London SW9 0LS
Phone: 020 7820 4900

We used to be the World Development Movement. Find out more.

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

The Downward Spiral To Deprivation.

 

      In the UK the cull of the working class continues unabated. A recent statement from a food bank charity says it has handed out 913,000 food parcels in the last year, up from 347,000 the year before. Still the Bullingdon Club Boys, sitting in The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, trumpet this as a "strong" economy. Another sign of their "strong" economy, is the steep rise in homelessness. The England and Wales figures of homeless for June to July 2014 was 55,090 compared with 39,480 for the same period 2010. 

     The massive rise in food bank distribution and the stark increase in homelessness, is nothing short of a human tragedy, a crime waged against the poor and vulnerable, in this extremely wealthy country. One homeless charity says it can no longer offer a bed to all the homeless and instead is giving then bus tickets so they can sleep on the bus at night. It says ‘We tell them which routes to choose, so that they will be travelling around all night".

        Of course the UK state is not the only state that is slashing the living conditions of the people. It is a European wide strategy, we all know how far they have gone in Greece, we are aware of the viciousness of the Spanish state. The people in Finland have taken to the streets as their government moves in with the hatchet to slash at the people's living conditions. New legislation in Finland will abolish two paid holidays, introduce wage cuts, and cut overtime payments, among a raft of other "austerity" measures. Big business wants a sweatshop economy here in Europe and the governments are hell bent on delivering. The UK has already given them a pool of free labour in the shape of workfare.

        Living standards across Europe are all under attack, big business is hungry, wages have to come down, working conditions have to "liberalised", social spending has to be cut to a minimum. Slashing social services means that the government can cut taxes to big business, and those services can be provided, at a profit, by big business. 

       This is not going to change because the government and their pay masters, big business, decide that it is time to raise the living standards of the people and give them a bigger slice of the cake. We are not going to see this wealthy bunch of parasitical shareholders, become a caring compassionate group eager to share their ill-gotten plunder with the people. We are on a downward spiral to deprivation, unless we decide that we want all the fruits of our labour to come to us, and take the necessary steps to ensure that happens. We don't need CEO, banksters, parasitical shareholders, nor do me need their protector that state.

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

The Surveillance Society.

       Big business and state apparatus will always be found to be holding hands, it is a festering marriage that destroys any semblance of democracy. Big business buys governments, governments give the stamp of legitimacy to the big business's plundering of the earth. Both agree that the populace must be kept under control, otherwise their partnership of greed and corruption collapses. Whatever foul deed they get involved in should not surprise us, our only answer to this cancerous marriage is the destruction of the present economic system. Though the fight to get that desired end will take many different shapes, we should not lose sight of the fact that if we want freedom, justice, peace, sustainability, and a society that sees to the needs of all our people, then each battle should be with that destruction of the economic system in mind.

 This from Fight For The Future:

     Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Salesforce, Symantec, and a handful of other companies just betrayed billions of people and publicly aligned themselves with spy agencies like the NSA.1

Click here to learn more and take urgent action to stop them from handing even more of our personal data over to the government.

        We tend to be pretty skeptical, so it’s hard for tech companies to shock us. But this latest development is significant because these companies aren’t even trying to hide the fact that they’re lobbying for MORE government spying, and asking for government handouts and protection if they play nice.

      Here are the facts: last week, this group of companies sent a letter to Congress endorsing bills like CISA—the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. It’s a dangerous bill that security experts say will erode our privacy while actually making our data less secure.2

      So why are these companies pushing for it? Because the government is offering legal immunity to companies that share private user information with dozens of government agencies.

       We need to act now because if we don’t respond swiftly and loudly, more companies will jump on the bandwagon and sell out their users privacy in exchange for government protection. If more major companies endorse CISA, it will be almost impossible to stop it in Congress.

Click here to take action right now to hold these companies accountable for endorsing CISA.

      We have an opportunity right now, but it won’t last long. If we can create a massive public backlash and make these companies regret endorsing CISA, we can make sure that no other companies are willing to betray their users so publicly, and send a message to Congress that this is still a supremely unpopular bill, no matter what Microsoft and Apple’s lobbyists say.

Time is of the essence. Click here to take action TODAY to stop CISA, before it’s too late.

    Thanks for all you do. More on this soon.
~ Evan at Fight for the Future

P.S. We’re a small group of activists who consistently take on and win huge campaigns — chip in $5 to help us make sure we have the resources we need to beat these companies.

1. http://www.bsa.org/~/media/Files/Policy/data/09142015CongLeadershipDataAgendaLetter.pdf
2. http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/files/blogs/technologists_info_sharing_bills_letter_w_exhibit.pdf 

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