Syria, The Compassionate Face Of Imperialism!!!

       It can be taken as a truth, that all those involved in the bombing of Syria, do not have at heart, the well-being of the Syrian people. So many nations from across the globe, running in to help the Syrian people?? In this capitalist, imperialist world, it beggars belief. What the motives are for each of those nations involved is extremely difficult to get a handle on, one thing is sure, at the baseline, it is self interest. Who stands to gain what if this happens, who stands to lose what if that happens, is all very complicated if we don't have all the facts. As in all wars, truth and facts are casualties. There is no point looking to that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media for clarity, they pedal illusion, wishful thinking and propaganda.

 Imperialist building blocks of democracy.

     Counter-Punch, has an interesting article that helps to supply informative parts of the jigsaw, that is the Middle East, Syria in particular.

------As for Washington’s “strategy”, it now boils down to the CIA need of a new rat line. That could imply sitting on the – weaponized – sidelines watching Turkmen and Kurds slug it out, thus creating an opening for the Turkish Army to intervene, and the Russian Air Force to prevent it, with all hell guaranteed to break loose. ------

Read the full article HERE:

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

William McIlvanney.

         Just heard, William McIlvanney died aged 79, they announced his death as "crime author dies", I never read any of his novels, though I'm sure they were brilliantly crafted, but loved his poetry. He seemed to be able to get into the heads of so many characters, his poetry could distil what it is to be human. I find it difficult to pick out one that stands out from the others, they, to me, are all up there on the high altar of wonderful poetry.

     My small tribute to William McIlvanney is this verse V, from "Initiation" in his book, "In Through The Head". 

My father's personal Midian was The Strike,
Say 'nineteen twenty-six' and watch his eyes
Bruise still with images of boot and pick.
Beyond the room's bright warmth he heard the cries
Of children starving and the feet of men
Subduing anguish to a measured walk,
You didn't interrupt his anger when
He brought up gouts of blood in his talk.

'Sam Harris hanged himself',''Ah've see a wean
Whose staple diet was a dummy tit.'
'The batoned bastards beat up unarmed men.'
Not an economist's view, He didn't find
The key that locks pain safely in a law.
Raw facts still looted comfort from his mind,
Broke into his indifference. He saw
Only the cold, blind heaving ranks who crushed
Into the closing justice of their time
Only to be rejected. Pictures strung
Out of his mind unbroken, newsreel rushed
Straight from the scene of an historic crime;
The pit-cage talk before fierce hopes were hung
On a slender thread of unity; the bands
That grouped lean jowls round any bone of news
To sharpen hope's teeth on it; big quiet men
Who rotted with their pockets round their hands;
The shame of looking at your children's shoes;
Soup-kitchens; five fags shared among ten;
At countless corners the spontaneous wake
Held by silk-mufflered men for self-respect.
Hearing him talk you came to realize
That history is what time leaves in men's eyes,
The shape their thinking takes. His was a fate
Coined in the twenties, already out of date
By the time the thirties ended or before,
Survivor of an unofficial war,
The scars he carried made him not quite fit
To enjoy the subsequent peace or understand
That this was all the gain their fight had brought.
He did not recognise the promised land.
You might, of course, have cited this bright room,
Full bellies, clothes, as what their guts had won.
But that was an impertinence to him,
Whose dream had seemed as certain as the sun.
Were bingo, the telly, hire purchase cars
As a measure of their sacrifice enough?
Later, in casual talk or busy bars,
You seem to hear a distant ideal sough,
Cry of a Dodo haunting the pleasant day,
Recalling the need to care, a debt to pay.

Thanks William, for your window onto humanity.

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

 

Spanish Democracy.

     Europe, a continent of democratic countries!!! Or so the propaganda narrative goes. Such horrors of imprisonment without trail only happens in those nasty dictator countries, not here in democratic Europe. However any person that opens their eyes, will know that the state apparatus in any country in Europe, as elsewhere, can make the rules up as they go along. Being imprisoned for two years without trial blows a hole in the veneer of European democracy, it shatters the illusion of democracy spouted by the babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media. If two years seem extremely excessive, how about four years?

This from Contra Info: 

Spanish prisons: Contact address of anarchist prisoners
Mónica Caballero and Francisco Solar
      On October 28th 2015, the Spanish justice decided to extend the period of pretrial detention for anarchists Mónica Caballero and Francisco Solar for two more years. They were arrested on November 13th 2013, accused of participation in a terrorist organisation, of havoc and conspiracy. Though the Spanish penal code sets a limit of two years of incarceration without a trial, the State can in fact impose an extra remand period of two years on the ground of “special reasons”.
The comrades have been transferred to the prisons in Asturias:
Mónica Caballero Sepúlveda
Francisco Solar Domínguez
C.P Villabona-Asturias
Finca Tabladiello s/n
33422 Villabona-Llanera
(Asturias) España/Spain
Strength to Mónica and Francisco!

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

Winter.

 

         With more than 8,000 air-strikes on Iraq and Syria in the last fifteen months, and now Britain joining the carnage, it is difficult to grasp the horror of the daily life of those left in that region. In spite of the unbelievable bombardment of that area and its people, Cameron tells us that it will take a long time to complete their task. What will be left of the region when the imperialists consider their job done? All in all the situation fills me with dread and anguish, my heart weeps for the people who daily are at the receiving end of this destruction of everything they have built over the centuries. We are creating a wasteland filled with dead, maimed, traumatised people, a generation of children growing up knowing nothing but violence and carnage, how will they find love in their hearts.

Winter

Dark malefic clouds crowd the sky

winds carry the stench of carrion to every nostril,

the crazy ape has followed the faculty of hawks.

All around stand crows, magpies, jackdaws, vultures,

edacious eyes anticipating their putrid feast.

A weary Cassandra laments;

doves, hearts weeping for a better yesterday

forsake their olive branches.

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

Capitalism, Born Of Greed, Survives By Greed.

       Looking at this insane world of capitalism, you become accustomed to its many contradictions. For example, if you live in a rich country you would imagine that you would be better treated financially than if you lived in a poorer country. Well not so if you happen to be a pensioner.

      If we take the 10 largest economies in the world, US, China, Japan, Germany, UK, France, India, Brazil, Italy, Canada, and look at how they treat their pensioners we get some strange results. If we take pensions as a percentage of the average wage, we find that all the richest economies with the exception of Canada, are at the bottom end of that table, with the poorer countries paying their pensioners a higher percentage of average wages. The two largest economies find themselves at the very bottom of the league, with the US paying its pensioners a miserable 17.3% of the average wage, while its main competitor China, paying a paltry 2.0%. The UK, fifth in the league of large economies, finds itself in the bottom half of the pension league, with a derisory 21.6% of average wage, almost half that of the poorer New Zealand, whose pensioners receive 40.1%. of the average wage. 

       Of course it is not just in pensions that we find this inequality and injustice, the system of capitalist economics is built on such inequality, it's how the system functions. Wealth is created by the vast majority of the people, but the wealth then flows up towards a small cabal of parasites, who surround themselves with opulence beyond our imagination. To maintain that life in the cocoon of unearned wealth, the parasites have to continually plunder the wealth produced by us the ordinary people. Hence the cuts in our standard of living, education, health care, and all social services. The differences in our conditions at the bottom of this insane system is brought about by the majority having to fight individual battles to gain some of the inadequate crumbs left by the parasites, creating different strata of poor and poorer. The system is not based on logic, rationalism or compassion, but on the control of all the means of production and distribution, and that, for the moment, is firmly in the hands of the parasites. So it will continue until we decide that we have had enough of this plundering of the produce of our labour, and we take control of those means of production and distribution. 

Pensions as % of average wage.

New Zealand 40.1%
Denmark 36.3%
Ireland 33.0%
Canada 32.2%
Netherlands 27.1%
Australia 27.1%
France 25.6%
Sweden 23.2%
UK 21.6%
Japan 20.1%
Spain 19.6%
Italy 19.1%
Germany 19.0%
US 17.3%
Turkey 6.0%
China 2.0%

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

What Cost Bombing?

     It is no surprise that after last night's expected success of the imperialist warmongers, in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, the same cabal that tell us we must have austerity to balance the books, we can't afford decent social services, these are difficult times, we shouldn't live beyond our means, have no problem opening the nations cheque book for war.

        According to the the Ministry of Defence, (should be renamed, Ministry of War) figures released in 2010 state that every time a Tornado plane takes to the air, it costs the taxpayer £35,000 per hour. Assuming the average flight lasts about six hours, not excessive, that comes in at £210,000 an excursion. Of course they will not be flying paying tourist, each Tornado will have a payload of probably four Pathway bombs, (£22,000 each) and two Brimstone missiles, (£105,000 each) that takes us to the staggering cost of £508,000 per plane per mission. Of course these instruments of destruction rarely fly solo on missions, they tend to fly in pairs. So that takes your cost of each mission to a little over £1 million. Of course our air-force has much more expensive weaponry at its disposal, they could take off with our super-duper destructive toy, the Storm Shadow, at a cool £800,000 each. Now that would make a nice big bang. 

         During our imperialist intervention in Libya in 2011, 16 Tornado GR4s were employed, at £35,000 per hour flying cost, and used 230 Brimstones missiles, (£105,000 each) and a number of Storm Shadows, (£800,000 each). Of course there are other costs involved, support and back up services, also these planes often have to refuel in the air, a very expensive exercise. What if just one aircraft is lost, at a cost of £9.4 million.

      So you see how the costs stack up as the missions continue over a period of years. The other imperialist forces have been bombing Syria for approximately 15 months so far. Considering that some of the most powerful military in the world have been bombing the hell out of Syria for that amount of time, what difference do you think the British imperialists will make?

       Like I keep saying, we are a very rich country, it is just that that wealth, created by all the working people in this country, is not shared out fairly among those wealth creators. It is hoarded by our lords and master to keep them in unimaginable opulence, and for operations to protect their imperialist power.

         Apart from the outrageous financial cost of these imperialist escapades, there is of course the human cost, the destruction of villages, towns and cities, comes with incomprehensible death, misery and trauma, to hundreds of thousands of families. We are seeing the result of our imperialist's recent endeavours in the Middle East, as hundreds of thousands of families now find themselves facing a European winter living in fields and inadequate camps. Among those families are sick, elderly, and children, all fleeing a hell-hole, a dystopia, created by the actions of the imperialists quest for power and wealth.  

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

We Are Complicit.

At the age of 81, this poster says what I feel in my heart.

        Today, the members of the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption will decide if the British imperialist hierarchy will unleash their modern destructive air-power on Syria. The extreme right-wing faction in the Labour Party have demanded a free vote on this matter, and with their usual overpowering arrogance, they say the will vote according to their conscience. They utterly fail to grasp the idea of democracy, they simply can't accept that they are there to represent their constituencies and not their own personal view.
        What will happen if the pompous arrogant mouthpieces of the British imperialist establishment succeed in getting their way, and it certainly looks as if they will? That babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, will swamp us with maps, showing lots of lines and strange names, photographs of UK war-planes, there will of course by videos of our “clever smart missiles” turning a rather hazy something into a cloud of dust. What they will not show of course, is the body parts lying around after the dust settles. They will also pump out that old UK military myth, we only kill “bad guys”, but somehow in every war zone we are involved in, the local inhabitants keep burying the damaged bodies of their men women and children. 

        At present some of the most powerful military powers on earth are bombing Syria on a vast and daily basis, Syria is a waste land, its people are fleeing in their millions, Britain's contribution to that mayhem, will be more death and destruction, more terrified traumatised families fleeing a Western created Dante's inferno. The UK imperial establishment's only reason for entering this destruction of a country, is its desire not to miss out on the spoils of war, when the imperialists start to carve up that unfortunate land. The pack of imperialist wolves are tearing Syria apart to fulfil their original aims, to bring down the Assad regime and open Syria's resources to the corporate world. The Syrian people are not on that agenda, they can go to hell in a hand cart as far as the big boys in the imperialist team are concerned. 

          Like Afghanistan, like Iraq, like Libya, and further back, Malaya and Suez, and many others, our involvement in Syria has nothing to do with democracy, nothing to do with the local people, it is all about imperialist powers carving up the world to their own advantage.
         Under the present system, Britain's blood stained path will continue, we will continue to send our young people to foreign lands, waving the false flag of democracy, they will destroy and kill, to further the power of UK interests, to plunder other people's resources. Only the will of the people can stop this greed driven human disaster. As it continues we are complicit, we swallow their lies, we turn a blind eye, we settle into our own comfort zone, we ignore the suffering of others. This brutal crime may be planned and instigated by the powers that be, but they need us to carry it out, we are the tools they use to savage other people, people just like us. 

         It will take something more than lobbying your MP, to end this cancer that is eating the human race. It will take a revolution of consciousness of the ordinary people, and the will to destroy the present system. 

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

 

Glasgow's Joe Hill Night Of Song.

       Our exhibition on “The Rent Strikes, 100 Years On”, in the Mitchell Library, finished on Saturday, November 28^th, and by all accounts it proved to be of interest to lots of people, some leaving very positive comments, others asking lots of probing questions. A big thanks to all those who took a slot in manning the stands and a special thanks to our many visitors.
      If you enjoyed or missed the exhibition, there is another chance to join us. Following on from our Mitchell Library exhibition, we are, in conjunction with Clydeside IWW and The Only Way Is Ethics,  holding what is shaping up to to be a wonderful night of music, in The Old Hairdressers, 7:30-11:00, on Wednesday December 2^nd . So come along and help us celebrate the life of Joe Hill, with a night of songs written and inspired my the man himself.
      As well as a variety of musicians, there will a floor spot for audience participation. Come and sing a song, read a poem, or just settle down and enjoy the music, the atmosphere and the camaraderie.
       All the proceedings will go to help fund The Spirit of Revolt archive.

Joe Hill, the man who never died.

Joe hill, his bio.

Wednesday December 2^nd. 7:30-11:00,

£7, Un-waged £4

Tickets at the door, or pre-booked from Monorail at Mono café bar 12 Kings Court Glasgow G1 5RB Tel: 0141 553 2400

The Old hairdressers,

20-28 Renfield Lane

Glasgow G2 6PH.

We apologise for the absence of wheelchair access.

SOME OF THE PERFORMERS
Richard Youngs
Fritz Welch
Josie Vallely
Paul Tasker
John Mcfarlane
Dave Featherstone
Enradgey
More will be added to this list.

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

Shall We Sow The Seeds Of Hate, And The Desire For Vengence.

     Can the voice of sanity drown out the baying for blood, can the doves of peace silence the trumpet call to war, can the will of the people return the dogs of war to their kennels? We can't expect that pampered, privileged, hypocritical cabal sitting in the marble halls of power to silence the howling hounds, they are the ones who stand ready to unleash them. It is not blood that flows through their veins, it is the venom of imperialism. Stopping the frenzied rush to war can only be done by the will of the people, only by the concerted effort of the ordinary people can the bloodshed be stopped.  

       The savagery of war is never to the benefit of the ordinary people on either side of the slaughter. They are the ones who see the blood of their loved ones stain the fertile earth, but never gain the the spoils of war. They are the ones who mourn, while the war mongers feast in marble halls built on the bones of the people.

      Syria at the moment is being bombed into oblivion, the Syrian people are bleeding from every pore, Britain's contribution will add a few more villages, towns and cities, splattered with the blood of ordinary people. The reason for our lords and masters desire to contribute to this humanitarian disaster, is simply, the desire for the British imperialists to play on the big imperialist stage, they don't want to miss out on the spoils. This action is certainly not born out of compassion for the people of Syria.

     If we the ordinary people can't stop this, we are complicit in the deaths of men, women and children who have done us no harm, we will be planting the seeds of hatred and perhaps a desire for revenge.

 From SACC:

MONDAY - Don't Bomb Syria - Emergency Protests
From 5pm Buchanan Street steps Glasgow
5-7pm east end of Princes St, Edinburgh
SACC Statement on UK Military intervention in Syria (30 Sept, but still valid)
SACC Statement on responses to the Paris attacks

From Stop The War:
Day X approaches,
MPs prepare to vote for war on Syria

1) Reports, images and vide on nationwide protests against bombing Syria
      Thanks to everyone who came out and demonstrated this weekend. We had a great turnout at very short notice. The message was very clear: Don't Bomb Syria.
      As reports, pictures and videos were posted online from around the country, the hashtag #DontBombSyria trended at number one on Twitter for much of the day.
       Thousands turned out in London where Whitehall was brought to a halt by the protestors, including many young people. See excellent video here...
      Around Britain thousands more held protests despite gales and rain in some places. Cambridge got a message from their local MP while protesting that he opposed airstrikes. There was a protest in North Staffs despite appalling weather. In Manchester, Leeds, Oxford, Norwich and Birmingham there were protests.
     Among those signing the petition on the Stop the War street stall in the tiny village of Lymm in Cheshire was Ian Brown, lead singer of the legendary UK band The Stone Roses.
See reports, images, video from around the UK on the national day of action...

 

 

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

The Creeping Disease Of Fascism.

         We can see the ugly face of fascism creeping along the sewers of Europe, ever increasing their presence as capitalism creaks at the seams. It has to be resisted at all times and at all costs. No where is that battle more obvious than in Greece, a country where the police and fascist openly work hand in glove, a situation that will become the norm as the present capitalist crisis grows deeper.

A Contra Info appeal from London Antifa:

 London Antifa Solidarity Tour –

Financial support of prosecuted comrade in Kavala, Greece

Saturday December 5th
7pm – 11pm
LARC
62 Fieldgate Street
London E1 1ES

We will be asking for donations at the door.

       London Anti-Fascists are organising a short tour with a comrade from Kavala, Greece to raise awareness and solidarity for their struggle against fascists and state repression.

      Anti-fascists in Kavala have been some of the most active in all of Greece, organising demonstrations and actions against neo-nazi groups over the past years. We are organising this tour as one of the comrades from Kavala is facing serious charges on December 9th and is desperate need for solidarity and financial support.

ABOUT THE CASE:

       On Sunday 26th January 2014, a few hours before a scheduled anti-fascist rally, neo-nazis from the “Patriotic Movement” smashed up a shop owned by one well know anti-fascist and attempted to set fire to it, endangering the lives of those inside the building. After the intervention of local residents, as well as people from the surrounding nightclubs, the worst was avoided.

      Our comrade, once notified of the attack on his store, went down there to see what had happened. A few moments later some plain-clothes police officers arrived, having been notified by the local residents. At that moment our comrade is informed that before the smashing and arson of his store, a clash had taken place between a group of antifascists and a group of members of the Patriotic Movement. The “Patriotic Movement” were guarding the public space of the Municipal Park to prevent any anti-fascists from attending.

     Though refusing to have anything to do with the police, our comrade for the purpose of insurance had to go to the police station. Whilst waiting for 3 hours he was informed that he was arrested for public disturbance. Apparently members of the Patriotic Movement in collusion with the police attempted to put the blame for a previous confrontation on him.

     Not only were the Patriotic Movement attempting to control the streets and public spaces, they had after the incident violently attack two youths in a park and then proceeded to work with the police in making this claim against our comrade.

     A few hours later the antifascist rally, organised by the Autonomous Collective of Kavala [Kavala Autonomous Hangout], Vironos 3 squat and individual antifascists, took place in Faliro Park. From the very first moment of the rally, the Park was surrounded by several riot squads (around 8 to 10) and many plain-clothes cops. As soon as the antifascists (150 to 170 people from Kavala and other towns) blocked the road in front of the park, police vans shut off the road, in order to prevent the antifascists to approach the Municipal Park, where at the same time the fascist gathering was being held. Not only neo-nazi Golden Dawn members took part in the fascist gathering, but also other neo-nazi groups, such as the National Socialist Army of Macedonia and other known and unknown fascists from Northern Greece. After the events of that weekend, two comrades were held in custody for several days and face charges of “disturbance of public order with facial features covered”.

The trial is set for December 9th 2015.

       We hope that this tour can further make links between anti-fascists in UK and anti-fascists across Greece.

londonantifascists.wordpress.com | ldnantifascists[at]riseup.net

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

The Workers Pledge In Time Of War.

      The blood curdling howl of the dogs of war reverberate through the airwaves, the babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, blasts out the bugle call to arms. Meanwhile, in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, the Honourable Members, those who will never be called upon to wear a uniform, or lift a gun, call for others to shed blood in the name of some illusion. From their cloistered, pampered, privileged cocoons, they scream their frenzied insanity, calling on workers of this land, to kill workers in another land.

      Have no illusions, our super smart bombs are not really smart, they are blunt instruments of death. They will tear through the flesh of a child just as accurately and as brutally, as that of a "terrorist". The bombs will fall on villages, towns and cities, and will reap carnage on shopkeepers, nurses, invalids, gardeners, and fruit growers, the elderly will meet the same fate as the gunman. Villages, towns and cities will disappear from the map, their people will scatter to the four corners of our world, fleeing hell on earth, families will be dispersed, and hatred will grow like weeds and its seeds will spread in the wind of memory and folklore. 

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,

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

held aloft by some foolish hand

inciting worker and peasant to kill

on some green and wooded hill,

peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag

that brings out fools to stand and brag

of brutal deeds painted grand,

deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still

killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation

this man made autocratic creation

that divides my brothers in a world so small,

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

bids us follow its drum, sing its song,

then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

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

have no ear for power oration,

though its iron heel is on my breast,

my back feels its leather thong,

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

        We cannot allow the insanity of our wealthy "lords and masters" wrapped in the cloak of patriotism and "national security" to drag us into another nightmare of carnage. We cannot see another generation born into a world of hatred and revenge. We the ordinary people of the world, have bled through endless wars, our families have mourned our dead for generations, we know the suffering of carnage, it has solved nothing. Don't be fooled by the frenzied screaming of the friends of wealth and power, the voice of imperialism. We have been bombing the Middle East continuously since 2001, remember Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and now Syria? Is the world now a safer place, a more peaceful place? Only a blind fool or a lying imperialist stooge would answer yes.

         Let us go back to the words of one of Glasgow's well known anarchists, and conscientious objector, Guy Aldred, and take some words from his 1929 pamphlet, "At Grips With War"

The 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 our mate.

   I refuse to murder and deem the slaughter glory.

   I refuse to butcher with hands that were intended to

                   to serve and 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.

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