May Day on The Green!!

        Tired of the ritual Glasgow May Day, a boring walk through the city and then sit in a cinema listening to "our leaders", spout how they will save the world. Well, a group of is are trying to bring May Day back to the Green and make it what it was meant to be, a family day, a fun day, a day of celebration. Sunday May 1st. we are organising a family get-together/picnic in the Green, with a little bit of the history of May Day. It is early days yet but there will face painting, music, singing and performance poetry, among other events, so bring what you expect to find. As I said, it is early days yet, but hopefully it should kick off around 1:30pm. on May 1st. So if you like, you should still be able to have your march around the city and come back to the Green to meet up with friends and comrades and have a friendly afternoon. May Day belongs to the people, and belongs on the Green, let's bring it back.

       More information will come out as the arrangements develop. Please throw your own ideas into the pot, and watch this space, we'll keep you informed.

Burrell Collection Photo. 

          May Day demonstration in Victoria Road, c 1930s. This parade is probably heading to the Queen's Park, where politicians and trade unionists would give speeches. The Independent Labour Party (ILP) are marching alongside the nearest tram.

       May Day was declared an international working class holiday by the International Working Men's Association (First International) in Paris in 1889. 1 May is the traditional date for May Day, but up until 1918 May Day rallies in Glasgow were held at the weekend. The 1918 rally was the first to be held on a weekday and the Glasgow Herald estimated that 70,000 people attended in spite of having to take a day off work.

          May Day Glasgow Green 1913, ahh, wouldn't it be lovely to see such numbers again?

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

You Will Be Cared For.

      Imagine being born into a society where the first words you here are,”Welcome, we are here for you, you will be cared for.” As you grow, eager loving hands offer you knowledge and experience, helping you to go the road you wish to walk. The border-less world is your village, its inhabitants your family, your needs are never a point of stress, your potential is an open gate. Imagine the burst of creativity that would wash over such a world, how rich each individual's life would become.
 

 

        Such a world is possible, we have the resources in abundance, we have the desire within each of our hearts, why are we still mired in poverty, violence and unnecessary deaths? Simply, it is the way we see the world, we have been conditioned to accept the economic system under which we labour, as the only way of life. The illusion has been woven that capitalism is the natural and only way to live. Yet it is nothing more than a man made system that favours the few. It is not a system written in tablets of stone, immovable and immutable.
 

Image from Not Buying Anything.

        The alternative is there, apart from living experiences from the past and present, books in abundance paint its picture, leaflets, pamphlets, poster, shout its story, all that is required is that we are brave enough to come to the decision, that capitalism has done enough damage to the world and its inhabitants, and must be destroyed. Of course the alternative that I speak of is anarchism. The choice is ours, continue with the present reign of poverty, deprivation, endless wars and the destruction of the planet, all to feed an small army of parasites, or set free that other world that weeps, trapped in all our hearts.

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

 

Anarchist Black Dragon.

      The Anarchist Black Dragon pamphlet was founded by anarchist prisoner Carl Harp, and the Anarchist Black Dragon Collective in Washington State prison. Most people accept that Carl was wrongly convicted of the Seattle sniper crime and then brutally tortured and murder in prison in 1981. The pamphlet is dedicated to all those suffering in the dungeons of North America and all those revolutionaries who have lost their lives in prison anywhere in the world
       Spirit of Revolt has three copies of this pamphlet in their Bratach Dubh Collection, issues No. 8, 9, 10, and we have just made them available to read on line at: http://spiritofrevolt.info/bratach-dubh-collection-2/  just click on and scroll down to 1-23. Other copies can be read at: https://anarchistblackdragon.noblogs.org/

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You May Have To Die, Your Insurance Doesn't Cover This Illness!!!

        We continually hear the two faced lying parasites, wallowing in the perks of that cesspool of self interest, that goes by the name of The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, spout, "the Health Service is safe in our hands ". However, anybody with two brain cells is well aware that the NHS is up for sale, and will be privatised, over a period of some years. The latest gift from the Cameron cabal, to their corporate buddies, is a nice slice of child care in Wiltshire. Come April, child care in Wilshire will become a money making machine for billionaire, Batty Branson, and will fly the flag of "Virgin Care". 

      NHS staff working in child health services in one West county have been told they have a new boss – Richard Branson – after health chiefs unilaterally privatised their entire department in a £64 million deal.
      All community child health services in Wiltshire will be privatised, with council and NHS bosses defending their decision saying it was the best way to ensure a consistent service across the county.
     But leaders representing the staff being transferred said they had real fears the move would mean a worse service for more money, which they said was what happened when taxes were paid for 'profits and shareholders.
      Until now, all the services from Cricklade to Salisbury had been run by five different NHS organisations. The services now part of the deal include children's specialist community nursing, health visiting and speech and language therapy.    

      This piece of slicing and dicing of the NHS for corporate profit is not new, nor is it likely to be that last. The final aim is the total privatisation of health care in this country. Your only purpose in this society is to make profit for the multinational corporations, if you can't do that by working for crap wages, then you can do it when your ill. You are just a money making entity, or you are useless, superfluous to requirements. Is that the society you want?

       The NHS has been legally abolished. Perhaps most controversial is the opening up of NHS contracts to unlimited privatisation. Last year alone, out of £9.63bn worth of NHS deals signed, £3.54bn (nearly 40% of them) went to private firms. Private providers are cherry-picking lucrative services to boost their profits leaving the NHS with less money to provide comprehensive care. This neatly ties in with the next aspect of the legislation.

        This continual strangle hold of corporate power over all aspects of our life will continue, health care, education, social services, all to be turned into money making machines for the financial Mafia. If you don't like that, then you will have to stand up and fight one helluva battle, not just to save your NHS, but to save your children and grandchildren from the future enslavement under the yoke of corporate capitalism. Forget attacking the nasty branches of capitalism, we must destroy the root itself. Until we bring about the destruction of capitalism, and send it to the dustbin of history, as man's darkest hour, our conditions are on a downward spiral, with no other purpose than to enhance the wealth of an army of worthless, greedy parasites. 

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

A Date For Edinburgh.

Field punishment. 

        In memory of those heroes that the establishment would like you to forget, those who stood up against the first world war, voices for peace, punished, and suffered, as attempts to silence them increased, with the final humiliation, being erased from history. We can never let that happen.

The World Is My Country Exhibition
Thurs 25 Feb - Sat 12 March
Free Exhibition Launch
6pm Thursday 25 February
With graphic artist Emily Johns, Gabriel Carlyle, and Protest in Harmony.
Scottish Storytelling Centre
43-45 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1SR
The Exhibition celebrates, in stories and pictures, the people and movements that opposed the First World War. Featuring disobedient soldiers, feminist peace initiatives, a Maori princess, a famous Cambridge philosopher, and the striking graphic art of Emily Johns. Plus designs for the Conscientious Objectors Memorial in Edinburgh by pupils from St Thomas Aquins Secondary School. Launch with an interactive presentation by Emily Johns and Gabriel Carlyle. Wine & Food. Free. Donation requested.
Join & Share Event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1575076856117731/

Songs of the Unsung Heroes

Jane Lewis and Penny Stone from Protest in Harmony lead a fun and inspirational afternoon of songs celebrating the movements and people who opposed the First World War. Learn songs about the men and women who refused to fight and those involved in the broader movements for equality and social justice that move us closer to a world without war. In conjunction with The World Is My Country exhibition.

All welcome, no previous experience necessary.

Scottish Storytelling Centre

Full Price – £12.00
£10 Network Members
http://www.tracscotland.org/scottish-storytelling-centre/centre-events/4588/songs-of-the-unsung-heroes

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

Blood Buys Big Yachts.

 

        We all know that war is big business, and an extremely profitable one at that. The arms industry is massive and involves multi billions of pounds from the large financial institutions who invest extensively in the this destructive industry. So peace is not something they welcome. Their friends with their fingers in the arms industry pie are part of, or are in there lobbying, governments, to take action in this country and that country, spouting high morals and ethical causes for such intervention, but with one eye on the share price of their investments in the arms industry. So don't expect any steps towards peace to come from that cabal of millionaires, that sit in the corridors of power with their blood stained hands on the decision making levers. War means increased bonuses to shareholders.

        According to The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the arms trade has seen a 14% increase over the last five years, compared to the previous five years. What would other industries do for that sort of increase?
       The US is the big boy in the arms export business, away ahead of any of its rivals. From 2011-2015 the US took 33% of the world's market in the blood industry, also showing a 27% increase in its exports of these instruments of death over the last five years. It would seem that the US showers the world in arms, then as the world's biggest imperial power, spends billions more in arms, going round the world smashing these arms. Quite a lucrative procedure for the arms industry.
         Of course we in the UK are not sleeping in this lucrative world of death. We are a small country, but as the millionaire cabal in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption keep telling us, we punch above our weight. This small island, is responsible for 4.5% of the world's arms exports, showing a whopping 26% increase over the last five years. Again, what would other industries do for that sort of increase?

        No, I'm sorry, all you people who are fighting for peace, without working for the destruction of capitalism, are doomed to failure. Wars are such a profitable arm of corporate industries, there is no way that they will legislate to get rid of their goose that lays the golden egg. Corporations are not ethical beasts, nor are they patriotic, like they ask you and I to be. They care nothing for the death and destruction, after all there is profit in rebuilding all that destruction, and to them, people are irrelevant.
       You want peace, then join hands in getting rid of capitalism, there is no other way.

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

The Rent Strike, A Tool In Our Armoury.

Brooklyn 2012.

       I hope, after Spirit of Revolt's recent exhibition on the Glasgow 1915 Rent Strike, that more people are now aware of the rent strike as a tool, a weapon in the struggle of the ordinary people. What we tried to get across was that the 1915 rent strike was not a unique event, not a one-of happening. The rent strike has been used to defend tenants rights across the world long before 1915, and is still used today. It is a powerful weapon and should always be in the armoury of the ordinary people. The 1915 victory in Glasgow did not end the exploitation of tenants, the greed of landlords is just as virulent today as it was back then. It is still the same struggle today, a struggle for a decent standard of life and the right to have a home to lay your head down in security and comfort. To make my point about the longevity of the rent strike here is a short video of one that is taking place today in San Francisco.

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

Millions Die, And We Don't Give A Shit.

      Another excellent and informative video from, "It's The End Of The World As We Know It And I Feel Fine"

         Like the man said, there are literally millions of people on this planet facing a slow agonising death by starvation, while we in the West, throw away and destroy tons of food, though it is the man made system of capitalism that is the root cause, we by our acceptance of that system are complicit and responsible. When do we sort it out, when do we turn our eyes to the starving millions of men women and children, who are slowly starving to death in a world of plenty?

        In this sedition of ITEOTWAWKIAIFF we look at the growing class unrest in Hong Kong that kicked off a massive rebellion in the lunar new year. Also street battles   in Athens, where anarchists and farmers stormed the Greek capital in reaction to Syriza’s structural adjustment policies. On the music break we drop the now classic Dead Prez track: Malcolm Garvey Huey. We continue with an examination on how white supremacy plays a role in the mass starvation of people in the African continent and we wrap things up with Ajamu Nangwaya, an anarchist, educator and writer from Toronto, who spoke to us about black history in so called “Canada,” the similarities of black struggles between peeps down in the US, and the role of celebrities in visibilizing radical politics. Click here to download our entire interview with Ajamu. TRIGGER WARNING: cursing, street fighting, blood, politicians, images of children starving.

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

Revolutionary Feminism.

       The latest issue of The American magazine Freedom Socialist, The Voice of Revolutionary Feminism, is now available as an audio file. This issue covers, as usual, a wide range of topics, including, state terrorism.

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

Don't Get Angry, You May Be Investigated.

      Angry with your government? Careful, you could be seen as a threat by the security services. This article refers to America, but what crazy idea flies over there, has a habit of landing over here.

From Polizeros:

      The Pentagon, in its usual dimwitted yet dangerous way, is mining social media to determine if citizens are angry at the state and thus, presumably, a threat. Let’s unpack this foolishness, shall we? NSA has been trying to do the same thing for years, slurping down every conceivable piece of data on us in hopes it can be used on a real-time basis to identity threats. So far they have failed miserably and have admitted that all their operations has not produced any actionable information that stopped terrorists. However, the genuinely dangerous thing here for citizens is the Pentagon assumes if you are angry at the government that you are a potential threat and must be investigated further. No matter if your anger may be justifiable, no, just being angry at the government means you are guilty of pre-crime, which means what Big Brother in the Pentagon wants it to mean. The real problem is such intrusive techniques, spying on the citizenry constantly, is useless for catching terrorists. But it keeps people in the Pentagon employed and defense contractors happy with big contracts, even as it essentially is security theater.

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

The State And Repression Go Hand In Hand.

 

       Scan the map of the Earth, pick your state, no matter which one you select, you'll find it indulges in brutal repression, cruelty and inhumane treatment of its own people. The state apparatus has to, to maintain its hold over the people, to allow freedom of speech and expression would be the demise of the state and its corrupting, debilitating influence. Violence and repression are the state's weapons of survival.

An appeal from ABC Istanbul:

     Vegan anarchist prisoner Osman Evcan was recently exiled (aka transferred) from Kandıra prison No.1 to Silivri L-type closed prison No.6, and has suffered repression such as naked body search, cameras in cells, ban on letters and visitors, and blocking of vegan food. He has undertaken hunger strike since February 22nd 2016 to resist this oppression. Help spread the word!

More info HERE:

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

Boycott Israel, Stop The Genocide.

Want to support Palestinian freedom, justice and equality?

Join #IsraeliApartheidWeek 2016

        Each year, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) takes place in more than 150 universities and cities across the world. With creative education and action, IAW aims to raise awareness about Israel’s regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid over the Palestinian people and build support for the nonviolent Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

        In response to the impressive growth of BDS in the last few years, Israel and its right-wing allies in the west have launched repressive, anti-democratic attacks on the movement and the right to boycott, instead of fulfilling their obligations to end Israel's violations of international law. This makes this year's #IsraeliApartheidWeek more crucial than ever.

Support Palestinian popular resistance to oppression--join IAW 2016.

      Check out apartheidweek.org and #IsraeliApartheidWeek to find out what's happening in your area. More events in different cities are being added all the time, so do check back if there's nothing in your city listed yet. 

Want to organise #IsraeliApartheidWeek events on your campus or in your city? Register your organisation here and you'll receive an info pack full of ideas about how to organise #IsraeliApartheidWeek.

Dates:
UK: February 22-28
Europe: February 29-March 7
Palestine: March 1-10
South Africa: March 7-13
Arab World: March 20-26
US: various, including March 27-April 3
Latin America: April 10-24
Canada: various throughout March, check with local organisers

The following video was published October, 12th. 2015. 

Notice

• Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines).
  

        Ahmad Manasra, 13 years old, was shot and injured by a settler this Monday in occupied East Jerusalem, along with his cousin Hasan, 15 years, who died of his wounds. The settler alleged that the boys charged at him with a knife although there is no credible corroboration of this allegation. 15 year-old Hassan died of his wounds. The video shows Ahmad, struggling for breath and crying, while an Israeli settler films him and shouts profanities at him and the boy stays on the ground without receiving any medical help. In the past two weeks, several Palestinian civilians were killed and injured from fires shot by armed Israeli settlers and soldiers who allege similar

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

The Question, Trees Or Tarmac, Life Or Profit?

 

      Developers are greedy, they will gobble up green land, from the small, Glasgow's North Kelvin Meadow, to the large, ZAD. The North Kelvin Meadow is not a massive space, but in the context of our city it is large enough to be very important to the well being of our citizens. Zad, on the other hand is extremely large, it is massive. A whole swath of green land will become a matrix of motorways, airport runways, warehouses, docks and the concrete infrastructure to support all this tarmac development. The people of France have been fighting this monster destruction of nature for 40 years, and the fight still goes on, and the support for the protester is growing all the time.

       Both these projects, and thousands of similar projects across the planet are all linked, it is the plunder by capital, they are happening, not for the good of the people, but for the benefit of the corporate world's coffers, profit is the only motive, and it reaps the destruction of the planet. 

her yer ZAD her yer direnis!
Posted by Sadik Celik on Sunday, 21 February 2016

The ZAD - to the developers it is the Zone d’Aménagement Différé’, the differed development zone and for us it’s a Zone À Défendre: a zone to be defended. Either way, it’s a part of the countryside close to Nantes in France, which according to the decision-makers should make way for an international aiport.

Their construction project "Grand Ouest" is an economic platform of international importance stretching from Nantes to Saint-Nazaire, which will form a singular, huge metropolis. Fulfilling this project means taking over the sky, the sea and the land in replacing the current airport in Nantes with a new one at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, but also enlarging the port at Saint-Nazaire and constructing new roads and highways...

Our goals, in coming to live here on the proposed site of the airport, are many: to live on a protest site, where we can be close to those who’ve been opposing the project for 40 years and to have the power to act when construction happens; to make use of abandoned spaces to learn to live together, to cultivate the land and to be more autonomous from the capitalist system.

Most texts and infos are published in french and everything is not always translated, sorry. So if you want to be sure wether there’s new info, have a look on the french website. Also, if you want to help translating, you can get in touch with us !

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

Trees Or Tarmac, Which Is Best For Our Kids?

        The battle to save North Kelvin Meadow, is one that we have got to win, this is a beautiful green public space within our city, a place used by kids and adults alike. A place where kids can safely run wild and have fun, a place where they can learn about nature, a healthy family space, open to the public to enjoy and nurture. We have very few of such places left in "that dear green place", Glasgow, one by one they have been disappearing under the concrete and tarmac of the private corporate world. We have to call a halt to this plunder of our public spaces by the corporate developer. Please throw your support behind this public campaign by signing the petition, and show solidarity in what ever way you can.

Hi all,

*Update: *

        As many of you will know Glasgow City Council Planning Committee approved New City Vision (NCV) Ltd planning application to build 90 flats. They also approved The Children Wood Group planning application to keep the land as a wild greenspace and for the community. Our emphasis has now changed. Its now all about lobby the Scottish Government so as they do what they said they would consider back in 2013 and "call in" the NCV Ltd application and throw it out.
        Therefore please sign the petition below and if possible try to get 5 others you know to as well. If you can visit any MSPs at their surgeries that would be even better. Our local MSP Sandra White is key to us in getting this called in - so feel free to contact or visit her. Plus paper petitions can also be created and signed if that is easier.

*Petition*

        Help us to persuade the Scottish Government to ‘call in’ and reject the plans to build 90 residences on North Kelvin Meadow and The Children’s Wood by signing our petition:

http://bit.ly/callinmeadow


     *Thunderclap *(a modern way to get noticed outside your usual group!)

        If your on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr then click on link below so we all put out a one off message at the same time i.e. a thunderclap, and so get the petition noticed and hopefully a few more signatories. The message goes out on 29th February at 10am so obviously you need you to register before then.

http://thndr.me/wIBqUx

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