Why Anarchism?

 

    

       From the home page of Radical Glasgow's Anarchist Critic:

WHY ANARCHISM?

Freedom and Equality

     Fundamentally, anarchism is the struggle for freedom. Freedom from rulers and corporations who dominate our lives and are destroying our earth. Freedom for workers, women, and all oppressed people in all parts of the world. We believe that this sort of freedom can only be achieved together with equality and a fair distribution of resources.

Individual and Collective

     Anarchists believe in the inherent dignity and humanity of the individual. But this dignity and humanity can only be fully realised in a co-operative, egalitarian society. This is why we are in favour of working together collectively and being organised. It is incorrect to equate anarchism with individualism or chaos.

Revolution

     Anarchists understand that this truly free and equal society can only be achieved through revolution – meaning a complete transformation of society. This society cannot be ‘given’ to the people by politicians or bureaucrats. It must be built by people from below.

Change by Direct Action

     Anarchism opposes the violence which is an integral part of capitalism and the state (this violence comes in many forms: war, patriarchy etc.). We believe that means shape ends – in other words, the way we struggle will shape the outcome of the struggle. This is also why we do not support the seizure of State power by authoritarian political parties. However, anarchists do believe in direct action – action taken by everyday people to address the power imbalance in present day society. This includes strikes, boycott’s, work-to-rule’s and occupations.

The Past

     Both authoritarian communism (as in Russia, China etc.) and ‘labourism’ (ie. The labour parties of the world), have failed to solve our global crisis. We need a different path to a better world. Anarchism offers itself as a guide on that path.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Again, Migrants At The Harsh End Of The State's Heel.

        Anarchist and migrants seem to be the preferred target of the day for most of the European states at the moment. The Greek state, of late, has been particularly active in attacking migrant squats. As in most cases it is usually the vulnerable that are the first to feel the hard heel of the state in its authoritarian drive for complete control of the its captured population. Such harsh treatment of migrants deserves our full support and solidarity.

This from Enough is Enough, first published in Athens Indymedia:

 https://enoughisenough14.org/2019/04/18/refugeesgr-athens-clandestina-and-cyclopi-squats-evicted/#more-54517

                  CALL for an open assembly tonight at Gkini at 19:30 for the EVACUATION OF 4 MIGRANTS SQUATS and an ANTIAUTHORITARIAN QUEER FEMINIST SQUAT.

       This morning two squats were evacuated. Clandestina, on Mpoumpoulinas street, a building housing migrant families. 68 people were transported to Petrou Ralli. The other squat is Cyclopi, antiauthoritarian queer feminist squat in Zoodochou Pigis. Two comrades were arrested in the second one. The comrades are accused of disturbance of house peace, weapons possession and denial of fingerprints. All these are minor accusations.
      We see a repetition of last week’s evictions of New Babylon squat and Azadi squat, both migrant squats. From these evictions, approximately 70 people were taken to Petrou Ralli and some of them are in the process to get deported. Again, in today’s opperation they didn’t find any drugs in the squat, but in order to link their operation with the anti-drug war, they entered in a private apartment that had weed inside.
       The information about the number of prosecutions and arrests was gathered from mass media.
        Some months ago another eviction of another migrants squat took place, the squat of Single Men in Arachovis 44.
        We see a straightforward stategy of the state to “clean” te neighborhood of Exarcheia, as an anti-drug/anti-mafia operation. However, it is clear that this as a war against squats and the migrant population.

ASSEMBLY FOR SOLIDARITY ACTION THURSDAY 18/4 at 19:30 in GKINI

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Insane With Devastating Power.

        The political circus that we see day in day out is really scenes from an asylum. An asylum that houses some of the most deranged individuals on earth, as well as some of the world's worst psychopaths. Entering their world is not for the fainthearted, you will hear tales of fantasy and planned deeds of brutal slaughter of the innocent. Truth is something that has disappeared from their psyche, realism is something that belongs to the ordinary people outside the walls of the asylum. Sadly, much to our detriment, we seem to have given the residents of the asylum all the tools of power.  Do you recall the brutal and deliberate massacres during the Korean war: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-korean-war-era-massacre-was-policy/ Then remember the illegal invasion of Iraq: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq and now we have two US inmates Bolton and Pompeo planning a war against Iran: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51447.htm

         And so it goes on and on, too many massacres to list, countless illegal wars and invasions, the endless slaughter of millions of innocent people. All to fulfill the insane dreams and fantasies of the deranged psychopaths of the political asylum. It is long past the time when we should have quarantined the asylum and removed all powers of destruction from the insane inmates. To leave the political asylum as it is will mean an ever escalating world of death and destruction, an ever increasing multitude of hungry and deprived, an ever increasing level of inequality. Though it would appear that we also might be insane if we tolerate this situation much longer, as humanity demands a change and time is running out.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk.

May Day, Our Day.

May Day 2003 (Glasgow, Scotland) from Camcorder Guerrillas on Vimeo.

      Just on the horizon there is the glimmer of that special day, May Day, Workers Day, May 1st. A day that this society seems to have tamed into a sedate march that doesn't interrupt the flow of the economy, a little display, a few speeches and then go home or get busy with the consumer addiction. We have to free May Day from the dead hands of the political ballerinas and take it back to do our own thing, in our own way. May Day is not dead, it has just been sedated by the political messiahs. We can bring it back to life.

       It should be a day of fun, of celebration, a family day, a day to throw of the shackles of conformity and be yourself, a day shaped by you and your friends.

      To this end the Glasgow May Day Organising Group have put together a series of events, to try to remind us of what May Day is all about, to help us remember our history, the history of the ordinary people, and bring back that fun and family feeling to our day. 

     This May Day, celebrations will begin on May 1st. short march and rally, with music, singers, poets and stalls. May 2nd. a radical history walk through our city centre, stopping at points of interest and a wee discussion from one or more of our members. Saturday May 4th. a film show, Salt of The Earth. Then on May 5th. the culmination of the May Day celebrations, our now annual Picnic on The Green with stalls, poets, singers, dancers, musicians, food to share, bring the family, bring your street, bring what you expect to find.

Details of all these events can be found on these links:

 https://mayday.link/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/416201145855377/

https://mayday.link/blog/

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

There Will Come Soft Rains.

        Like all humans, I have many loves, likes, desires, hopes and fears. I love freedom, not just for myself but all. I desire my grand-kids and their grand-kids, to have happy fulfilling future, in a world of peace, freedom, good health and justice. I also love poetry, especially the kind that tries to tells something about the injustices in this world, or our stupidity, warn us about our greed and points to suffering of others. I am anxious about that future, will it contain the human species, or will nature finally give up on us and see us perish from the disease of our own greed and stupidity. No matter the out come, no matter how foolish our action, no matter how powerful we think we are, nature will win and have its way. We work with it or we lose, the planet will survive even our crass stupidity.

This from Not Buying Anything:

         Sara Teasdale won the earliest Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1918, the year she wrote "There Will Come Soft Rains", a piece of writing that imagines the world without us.
      In the poem, Teasdale describes nature reclaiming a battlefield after war. She also writes about the extinction of humanity, far before the threats of nuclear winter, or weapons grade consumerism became a reality.
       Her poetry is known for its "simplicity and quiet intensity", and this poem is certainly all of that.
There Will Come Soft Rains

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,

Would scarcely know that we were gone.

— Sara Teasdale [1884 - 1933]

        Our war on nature is one that we will most certainly lose. We have treated the planet, and all life on it, so harshly, that it would surprise me if any wild creatures would miss us if we manage to do ourselves in.
       Would they celebrate our demise? I wouldn't blame them if they did.
        Mary Oliver is another Pulitzer Prize winning poet, and she says, "Maybe the world, without us, is the real poem."
        It doesn't have to be that way. We used to be a harmonious part of nature, and if we ever learn to adopt a global philosophy of simplicity, we will be again.
        There will come soft rains, with us, or without us. The choice is ours.

Visiat ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Britain, Rogue State.

         An interesting article from TruePublica, yes I know it is a pro-capitalist organisation, but that doesn't change the points made in the article. It just highlights how the "Mother of Parliaments", home of "freedom and democracy" really functions. Of course not unlike many other states embroiled in this capitalist economic system. It is just that Britain with its imperialist history, has much more experience and expertise in this field.

       By TruePublica: Leaving aside Britain’s past, most particularly that of empire, the country is not just continually moving towards authoritarianism it is beginning to demonstrate all the early signs of a rogue state. These are strong words but the actual definition of a rogue state is – “a nation or state regarded as breaking international law and posing a threat to the security of other nations.” Examples such as the illegal invasion of Iraq, Syria and latterly Libya are very clear. Irrespective of the technicalities, they all broke the rules of International laws or norms. But other examples demonstrate how lawless Britain as a state really is.
      Chagos: Here, an entire population were forcibly removed from their island homeland at British gunpoint to make way for a US Air Force nuclear base, the people were dumped destitute over a thousand miles away, their domestic animals gassed by the British army, their homes fired and then demolished. To achieve this, Britain maliciously threatened the Mauritian government into ceding the Chagos Islands as a condition of its Independence. Recently, the International Court of Justice found that the British occupation of the Chagos Islands was unlawful by a majority of 13 to 1. Britain rejected this ruling. Ex British ambassador Craig Murray wrote – “this represents a serious escalation in the UK’s rejection of multilateralism and international law and a move towards joining the US model of exceptionalism, standing outside the rule of international law. As such, it is arguably the most significant foreign policy development for generations. In the Iraq war, while Britain launched war without UN Security Council authority, it did so on a tenuous argument that it had Security Council authority from earlier resolutions. The UK was therefore not outright rejecting the international system. On Chagos it is now simply denying the authority of the International Court of Justice; this is utterly unprecedented.”
       Weapons and war crimes: Britain’s arms and munitions sales are now regularly in the news. Even The Lords international relations committee said that British weapons were “highly likely to be the cause of significant civilian casualties” in various countries where illegal wars, acts of genocide and war crimes are being committed. A quick online search lists numerous examples.
        Israel: Then there is Britain’s relationship with Israel, which is taking a battering due to internal politics and finger-pointing over claims of racism. Fundamentally though, the issue is about war crimes being committed against the Palestinian people. British arms sales to Israel is at best questionable, especially the news that British made sniper rifles were used to kill and injure thousands of Palestinians recently. But Britain’s support in this genocidal war again goes against all international norms where the conflict is described by Amnesty International as an “abhorrent violation of international laws.” It added that – “This is another horrific example of the Israeli military using excessive force and live ammunition in a totally deplorable way. This is a violation of international standards, in some instances committing what appear to be wilful killings constituting war crimes.” In addition, UK policy is allowing trade with ‘Israeli’ goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories. The British government has stated that it does not even keep a record of imports into the UK from these illegal Israeli settlements. Acquiescing in this illegal trade by an occupying power is a violation of international law. The December 2016 UN Security Council Resolution, to which the UK agreed: ‘reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law”
        Libya: Mark Curtis, a British foreign policy expert and historian writes about Britain’s illegal attack of a soverign state – Libya: “British bombing in Libya, which began in March 2011, was a violation of UN Resolution 1973, which authorised member states to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya and to use ‘all necessary measures’ to prevent attacks on civilians but did not authorise the use of ground troops or regime change promoted by the Cameron government. That these policies were illegal is confirmed by Cameron himself, who told Parliament on 21 March 2011 that the UN resolution ‘explicitly does not provide legal authority for action to bring about Gaddafi’s removal from power by military means.” Today, Libya is a failed state and overrun by militant factions.
      Extrajudicial assassinations: and even a kill list. Reprieve’s report entitled Britain’s Kill List accused the Conservative government of extreme deception of parliament. Officially, Britain has never had a so-called ‘kill list’ but David Cameron had to admit to an extrajudicial assassinations programme in the Middle East, which we at TruePublica reported. All such killings break the most fundamental of international laws and norms as detailed HERE. The Reprieve introductory paragraph reads -“On September 7th, 2015, Prime Minister David Cameron came to Parliament and announced a “new departure” for Britain, a policy of killing individuals the Security Services and the military do not like, people placed on a list of individuals who the UK (acting along with the US and others) have identified and systematically plan to kill. The mere admission that there is a Kill List certainly should, indeed, have been a “departure” for a country that prides itself on decency. Unfortunately, it was not a “new departure” at all, as we had been doing it secretly for more than a decade.”
        Statelessness: Britain has once again broken international norms. The goals of UNHCR’s stateless campaign, a Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014 – 2024 introduced a guiding framework comprised of 10 Actions to be undertaken by states. In the case of high-profile ‘ISIS Bride’ runaway from Bethnal Green to Baghuz, Shamima Begum, the UK disregarded Actions 4 and 9:
Action 4: Prevent denial, loss or deprivation of nationality on discriminatory grounds. Action 9: Accede to the UN Statelessness Conventions. But Britain’s has its own laws. Section 40(2) of the 1981 British Nationality Act states the Home Secretary won’t make any individual rendered stateless as a result. Under this, the UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s decision to revoke Begum’s citizenship breaks UK law and international norms.
        Political prisoner: Then, there is the persecution of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, which is now seven years old. Ecuador has protected Assange for the past half decade from being turned over to Washington until his arrest by British police yesterday. By definition, Assange is the only political prisoner in western Europe. A United Nations legal panel ruled that Assange should be allowed to walk free and be compensated for his “deprivation of liberty” and that his detention was illegal. Assange has been nominated for a Nobel peace prize every year since 2010. His really big crime was releasing film of an American helicopter gunship killing civilians and journalists in Iraq. Britain is more than just complicit of it attack of fundamental and important press freedoms in arresting him. Assange’s lawyer criticised the British government for being poised to arrest and extradite Assange to the United States. “That a government would cooperate with another state to extradite a publisher for publishing truthful information outside its territory sets a dangerous precedent here in the UK and elsewhere,” she said. “No one can deny that risk. That is why he sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy.”
       Surveillance: The UK government’s record on bulk data handling for intelligence purposes saw the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling that state surveillance practices such as those practised in Britain violated human rights law. United National Special Rapporteur on Privacy Joe Cannataci said Britain was setting a bad example to the world and that Britain’s surveillance techniques on its own citizens was – “worse than Orwell’s 1984.” The highest courts in Britain have ruled against the government on mass surveillance. In 2014, British spies were (illegally) granted the authority to secretly eavesdrop on legally privileged attorney-client communications, according to documents. The documents were made public as a result of a legal case brought against the British government by Libyan families who allege that they were subjected to extraordinary rendition and torture, where Britain was proven to be in violation of international laws, in a joint British-American operation that took place in 2004. A lawyer, in this case, said – “It could mean, amazingly, that the government uses the information they have got from snooping on you, against you, in a case you have brought. This clearly violates an age-old principle of English law set down in the 16th century – that the correspondence between a person and their lawyer is confidential.” In addition, just one of the many operations carried out by the British state was called Optic Nerve. It illegally went about capturing images from webcams of millions of completely innocent citizens accused of nothing. Between 3% and 11% of the images captured by the webcams were sexually explicit in nature and deemed “undesirable nudity.” The public has not been reassured that these files still exist or not that were taken to build an illegal facial recognition system the government had not declared. Surveillance operations such as – Muscular, Socialist, Gemalto, Three Smurfs, XKeyScore, Upstream and Tempora are all examples of extreme surveillance systems being used in Britain that would be completely unknown if it had not been for Edward Snowden – another political prisoner. All such operations would be deemed illegal in court and of breaking international laws or norms in normal democratic countries.
          Health and Safety: In 2015, the Government pushed through a law that exempted a large number of self-employed people from the protection of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The Government managed to get away with reducing the level of protection because the self-employed are not covered by the European “Framework Directive”, which is the regulation that sets minimum standards that countries have to comply with. At the time the TUC pointed out to the Government that there were other international laws that the UK had signed up to in many other non European countries that did cover the self-employed including those of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Council of Europe.
          Disability: The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities examined the British government’s progress in fulfilling its commitments to the UN convention on disabled people’s rights, to which the UK has been a signatory since 2007. Its report concludes that the UK has not done enough to ensure the convention, which enshrines the rights of disabled people to live independently, to work and to enjoy social protection without discrimination – is reflected in UK law and policy. Although it praises some initiatives by the Scottish and Welsh governments to promote inclusion, it is scathing of the UK government’s inconsistent and patchy approach to protecting disability rights and its failure to audit the impact of its austerity policies on disabled people.
         Trust: Breaking international laws and norms has a long-term effect, mainly that of detriment to national security, long-term interests and trust. There is an assumption, of course, that international law cannot be enforced but in today’s world, international sanctions can be as damaging as using force. Those sanctions could be economic or diplomatic in nature. And if Britain wants to be an international player, it very strongly needs to appreciate and adhere to international laws and norms.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

From Desperation To Scapegoat.

          Once again we see another attack on the vulnerable and needy by an EU state, certainly a daily occurrence across Europe. Refugees/immigrants are the people with no basic human rights, scapegoats for the states policy of divide and conquer. Creating the illusion of the foreigner destroying our "way of life", the enemy responsible for all our ills, keeps the population locked in internal squabbles, allowing the state to exert greater authority over the situation.

         The EU has an influx of migrants due to its foreign policy, in conjunction with the US, especially in the middle east and north Africa. Rather than helping these vulnerable and needy people, whose situation they created, it will use this army of desperate and vulnerable people to further its own agenda. People are of no consequence to the powers that be. Civilised Europe, will herd them into unsanitary and over crowded detention centres, by propaganda, lies and misinformation, it will link them to organised crime and violence, feeding the far right with ammunition.

      This is just one recent example of a state's agenda of useing migrants as a tool. This from Athens, Refugee Accommodation and Solidarity Space City Plaza:

          The police operation that took place 2 days ago in Exarchia, against the two refugee squats was not directed against the mafia in the neighbourhood. Despite the propaganda, they did not find anything in the squats to link them with mafia. The goal of the government and the police was a show of power. Refugees have been turned into scapegoats for pre-election purposes. Refugee targeting does not harm mafia, but it strengthens the racist stereotype of identifying “foreigners/refugees” with criminal activity and of course, opens the way to fascist violence.
         We remind them that the squats are the voices against the failed policies of the state on “migration management”. The housing problem is more acute than ever, for both refugees and locals. Instead of finding solutions for the housing problems, government and the oppositions are turning against those who have no shelter and hope. The recipe is classic: Instead of limiting poverty, targeting and criminalising poverty.

Do not let them impose the policy of fear and hatred.

Refugees Accommodation and Solidarity Space City Plaza, April 13, 2019

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Glasgow May Day 2019.

 

      May Day is fast approaching and for the fourth year, the May Day Organising Group have organised a series of events round the theme of May Day. This year it is a mixture of fascinating, informative, exciting and fun events.

It kicks off with Wednesday, May 1st, gather at the Cenotaph George Square, 11:45am and a colourful noisy march to the Donald Dewar statue in Buchanan Street, where there will be a rally with musicians, singers, poets, stalls and an open mic. Thursday 6:00pm,  May 2nd. a history tour, a leisurely walk around the city, stopping at points of interest in working class history, ending up at The Green. Saturday, May 4th. 2:00pm a film show, Salt of the Earth, in the Quakers Hall at Charing Cross. The culmination of this May Day celebration will be our now regular Picnic on The Green, Sunday May 5th.. Again there will be performers food to share and lots of fun. We are still looking for more performers to come forward and take a wee slot at these events, singers, dancers, jugglers, musicians, poets, etc. so if you think you can fill a slot please get in touch. So do come along to any or all of these events and let's get May Day back to what it should be, a celebration of ordinary people, celebrating their struggles and victories, a fun day for all the family. We have to rescue May Day from the dead hands of the sanitised version we have at the moment, a sedate march through the city and then listening to our political ballerinas spouting how they will lead us to the promised land.

Links for detail info and to contact:

https://mayday.link/

https://mayday.link/blog/

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Green, Free Speech, May Day.

        If you are in or around Glasgow on Monday April 15th. why not come along to Spirit of Revolt's regular free event? Every three months or so we hold an open free event in the Mitchell Library, where we put on display material from our archive and arrange for some members to give a short introduction to the content of the event, and then it is an open discussion where those attending can contribute their own ideas, experiences, and thoughts on the subject matter. The subject of this particular Show and Tell is The Glasgow Green - May Day and the important part The Green has played in the history of our city.

       The idea behind these events is to bring the archive to the people, and bring the people to their history, and making our history come alive.

Details:

Free Event.

Monday 15th. April.

12:00-2:00pm.

Mitchell Library, 5th. floor,

Blythswood Room. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Hope Springs Eter-----!

 

      The older I get the harder it is to hold onto that glowing thread of hope. As I look around at the world today and see a glimpse of a very disturbing horizon, my thoughts turn to a little verse I penned at the time of the Western Imperialist's illegal destruction of Iraq. 

     Sadly that brutal planned destruction still runs amok across a far greater region then when it started. The deaths still mount up and the suffering multiplies, with little sign of it ending.

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.

Photo courtesy of DAWN, Vulture Preservation Project.  

No offence intended towards the real vultures, they do a wonderful job.
       I'm sure there will always be some human act that will keep that state of mind where, "Hope springs eternal".

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Far Reaching Tentacles Of The Zionist Apartheid Israeli State.

 

          The tentacles of the Zionist apartheid government of Israel reach far and deep, slithering into cracks and fissures of foreign politics. However, America is probably where its tainted wealth finds its greatest success in influencing a states foreign policy. Just another example, if one was needed, of how deep pockets have the power to influence and in some cases, dictate, the affairs of governments. Just another cancerous feature of this corrupt capitalist system that dominates our lives.

         April 10, 2019 "Information Clearing House" - 

       How do you take a typical progressive and turn him or her into a fascist? One possible way is to send the poor bastard off on an all expenses paid trip to Israel where a meticulously crafted and sophisticated brainwashing program will make one believe almost anything regarding the noble and God-chosen Israelis versus the satanic Arab terrorists. Add into that the fact that being pro-Israel is a plus in many career fields and it is easy to understand why a monster like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets favorable press and commentary in the United States even as he is reviled in most of the rest of the world.
        The liberal to fascist metamorphosis is most evident among Democratic Party politicians, who have been successfully targeted by the Israel Lobby and its deep pocketed supporters for many years. It is all part of a massive public relations campaign, which some might instead refer to as disinformation, planned and executed by the Israeli foreign ministry and its diaspora supporters to advance Israeli interests in spite of the fact that the government of Netanyahu has implemented and executed fundamentally anti-democratic programs while at the same time committing war crimes and violating a whole series of United Nations resolutions.
       Israel works hard to influence the United States at all levels. Its tentacles dig deep, now extending to local and state government levels where candidates for office can expect to be grilled by Jewish constituents regarding their views on the Middle East. The constituents often insist that the responses be provided in writing. The candidates being grilled understand perfectly well that their answers will determine what kind of press coverage and level of donations they will receive in return.
        One of the most blatant propaganda programs is the sponsorship of free “educational” trips to Israel for all newly elected congressmen and spouses. The trips are normally led by Israel boosters in Congress like Democratic House Speaker Steny Hoyer, who recently boasted at an AIPAC gathering how he has done 15 trips to Israel and is now preparing to do another with 30 Democratic congressmen, including nearly all of those who are newly elected. The congressional trips are carefully coordinated with the Israeli government and are both organized and paid for by an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee called the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF). Other trips sponsored by AIEF as well as by other Jewish organizations include politicians at state and even local levels as well as journalists who write about foreign policy.

Read the full article HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Brexit, We Need A Bit More Anarchy.

         I have mostly stayed away from the Brexit pantomime being performed by our political ballerinas, as it is nothing more than a squabble between the various capitalist groupings in the UK on how best to exploit the people of this island. My only comment was to say that in or out, half way in or half way out, we will still be governed and exploited by the capitalist class. My only surprise is how they have managed to get the vast majority of the exploited to join in and take sides in this battle on the methodology of how to exploit the people of the UK.

       I post the following article because it more or less repeats my sentiments and lets me vent a little bile.

This from Anarchist News:
via Anarchist Communist Group

      The spectacle of the Brexit debacle would be comic if it weren’t for the fact that the consequences of the antics of the politicians will be felt largely by the working class. We are seeing the complete inadequacy of politicians of all shades. The phrase, ‘they couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery’ comes to mind! So why do we still let them decide our future?
       It is clear that they are only thinking of their own political futures rather than sorting anything out. The right-wing Tories want to see Britain becoming some kind of Singapore – an offshore unregulated tax haven off the coast of Europe in which workers are exploited even more then they are already. The SNP has eyes only for what might make people more likely to vote for an independent Scotland. Labour is divided between those who think leaving the EU and curtailing immigration will somehow make it possible to have a workers’ paradise under the leadership of Corbyn and those who are forging links with business interests who want cheap labour and free trade. The centre – some Tories and Liberal Democrats – are mainly concerned with business stability and keeping markets open to business. Then there are the racists and the little Englanders who think that by leaving the EU the British Empire will live again.

       For anarchist communists, whether in or out of the institutions that are the EU, we know that the only way we will be able to resist the attacks from the bosses and the State is to build up a strong international working class movement. We argue for no borders, not the open borders of capitalism, but the free movement of people whether they are from Europe or elsewhere. Low wages and poor conditions can only be fought by a strong united movement which includes all workers wherever they come from originally.

 

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

Don't Call Them Government Spies.

        In keeping with the idea of making the Spirit of Revolt Archive easy to access we continually scan and upload articles, documents, pamphlets, photos, letters, leaflets etc to our website. We also try to pick something from the archive that we feel would be of particular interest and post it on our "Read of the Month". This month we have picked a small book of poems and prose  from our John Cooper Collection, T-SOR 3-52-110, called, "Don't Call Them Government Spies", written by a number of writers on resistance to the Criminal Justice Act. The booklet contains works by such well known writers as Alisdair Gray, Edwin Morgan, Freddie Anderson, Tom Leonard, and many more. So why not take a wee look and enjoy, then have a browse through the archive. I'm sure you will find much more of interest. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Callous, Cruel, Capitalism,

       An all too common aspect of capitalism is its continuing gentrification of our town and city centres, and the commercialisation of all open spaces within the towns and cities. This is not peculiar to any one country, it is the global design being forced on the ordinary people. The result being the eviction of those who can't afford to stay in the new up-market, tourist orientated commercial centres. They are horded out to the periphery, usually in large depressing housing estates, where they are left to see their surroundings deteriorate because of austerity and endemic poverty.

       Within the glossy town and city centres there is homelessness and rough sleeping, while property lies empty waiting for the lucrative offer that fits into their glitzy commercial plan, and makes its owners much richer. Any humane attempt to bring the homeless and empty property together, will be met with the full force of the state's minders, the police. People are away down the ladder of concern when compared with profit. This is the only way capitalism can functioning, amassing wealth for the few at the expense of the many, and it will defend this aspect of its purpose with lies, propaganda and brute force.

     However, across the globe people are resisting this frontal attack orchestrated by the commercial/financial Mafia aided and abetted by the state. 

This from Enough is Enough:

     Berlin, German territory: Today (April 6, Enough 14), after the #Mietenwahnsinn (rent madness) -demonstration, the empty Bizim Bakkal shop was squatted, which had been empty for 4 years. Berlin police evacuated without a valid eviction title, without contact to the owner and using massive force against activists, journalists and parliamentary observers.
Originally published by Besetzen. Edited machine translation by Enough 14. Imahe above byZecko Twitter account.
       Last year, we occupied several houses, apartments and shops, all of which were evicted by the Senate and the Berlin police except one apartment in Großbeerenstraße. We see ourselves as part of a movement that is defending itself against Berlin increasingly developing into a city for the rich. A city in which social participation and place of residence depend on income and in which every square centimetre is used. The city is losing its open spaces, and Berlin’s neighborhoods are increasingly shaped by tourism, consumption and property speculation. Despite many promises regarding housing policy, the Senate is only watching or even actively helping in this process of displacement.

pic.twitter.com/CpyWgnuwKW— andi.waffen (@lamda14) 6. April 2019

      Today, 40,000 people took to the streets in a demonstration against rent madness and displacement. How have the demands, which were also supported by parts of the Berlin Senate, been put into practice and how have we begun to get our neighbourhood back? Many demonstrators joined this project on the spot in Wrangelstraße.
      This made it all the more dramatic how the Senate dealt with such practical forms of action. After the police were first prevented from entering by demonstrators present, the police violently cleared blockades in front of the shop and smashed the door of Wrangelstr. 77. The people in the shop, as well as the demonstrators in front, were arrested and many activists and solidary neighbours present were injured by batons and pepper spray. Members of the House of Representatives as well as members of the Bundestag and journalists were also violently prevented from exercising their right of observation by the police. Senator of the Interior Andreas Geisel was informed about the police operation and is politically responsible for it.

pic.twitter.com/MRZf8GPNP8— andi.waffen (@lamda14) 6. April 2019
        Press spokeswoman Alisia Ney: “Today’s eviction without an eviction title is a new stage of escalation and shows that the state is not even abiding by its own rules. Yet every eviction, whether with an eviction title or without injustice, remains in a city where people live on the street while houses are empty.”
      Press spokeswoman Jona Sommer: “Since taking office, the red-red-green Senate has been claiming “The city belongs to you!” Obviously, it belongs to investors and the Berlin police. Either Senator Geisel does not have his riot squads under control or the SPD is now solving its internal government crisis by police. In Wrangelstraße 77 it became clear that a majority of the population supports our concern to set up a non-commercial neighbourhood centre in the shop which has been empty for years. ”
        Both conclude: “We will not let an arbitrary and insane police force, like fickle politicians, stop us from occupying more empty spaces and taking back the city actively and directly. We will continue to occupy until we no longer have to.”  

Besetzen, Berlin, April 6, 2019.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

     

Sadly We Have Still Not Joined The Dots.

       Over the years I spout something and think it is relatively obvious, and somehow I expect others also see it and change will come. Sadly if there is any change it is microscopic and unbelievably slow. Because of the many many years I have lived, to me, it seem the change is actually non-existent. The blood still flows, the mass shootings continue, the wars recur or are continuous, poverty increases, deprivation runs rampant and still the system continues to amass unimaginable wealth in the hands of the few, the few responsible for all the ills that plague this planet.

      To make my point I will repeat an article I wrote back in 1914, called "Can We Join The Dots", however I accept that so far we have failed to Join The Dots.

          We all know capitalism produces wars between countries, and has done so more or less, since the system crawled out of the slime to infest the globe. What most people don't seem to recognise, is, it also causes wars within countries, wars between the ruling elite and the ordinary people. As capitalism is global it is difficult to find a country where the people are not in open conflict with the powers that be. The Ferguson riots in America, though classed as racial, racism is an aspect of capitalism. Mexico, the recent disappearance of 43 students and teachers and the ongoing violent protests, is the capitalist state attempting to crush any resistance to its exploitation. Recently we have seen over 100 protests across Ireland against watercharges, as capitalism tries to squeeze more profit from the ordinary people. In Brussels, there have been violent clashes as more than 100,000 protesters took to the streets against that common aspect of capitalism, “austerity”. In London we have just had more than a thousand masked anti-capitalist protesters take to the city centre. Protests took place in towns and cities across the Republic, including Letterkenny in County Donegal
       It would be extremely difficult to find a country where the people are not at odds with the system, across the globe unrest, anger and disgust are the feelings of the people, all have a growing hatred of a system that ties them to poverty, while they produce an abundance of wealth, that invariably ends up in the hands of a small greed driven bunch of parasites. With so much anger and unrest, it seems strange that the system is still managing to bleed us dry, perhaps we just have to join the dots between these world wide protests and we will see the system collapse.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Humans With No Basic Rights.

 

        Thousands of migrants are trapped in Greece because of the EU's policy. What the Greek state will do with this ever growing army of desperate people is the question that the state is not prepared to answer. The policy of treating them like cattle and hording them in camps will continue until something explodes and forces a change. These are human beings, old, young, infirm and ill, but once the label of migrant is attached to them, in the eyes of the state, they become other than human, and are treated in a brutal, savage and inhumane manner by the state. Once the state applies this label of migrant to these human beings, it means that the state can deny them the very basics of human rights. No right to freedom of movement, no right to decent food and shelter, no right to representation in society. The state takes the right to hold them in over crowded insanitary camps unfit for human habitation.

       This is Western democracy at work, the state holds the supreme right to treat you as it categorises you, stripping you of human rights, ignoring your needs, or if you are in that bunch of the chosen few, heaping privileges on you.    Only the total destruction of this unjust, exploitative, savage and inhumane system of state/capitalism will see an end to this savagery against desperate people, only then will all humans have the right to dignity and be treated as equals in a fair and humane manner.

       This from Enough is Enough, written by Riot Turtle. 

 

 

          Thousands of migrants and refugees gather and demand freedom of movement in Diavita , northern Greece near the city of Thessaloniki and in Larissa train station in Athens. Greek police attacked the protesters.
             The situation of refugees in Greece is getting worse and worse. After the announcement by the Greek state that recognized refugees would lose state benefits of 150€ per month and housing, migrants across started mobilizing for the ongoing protests.
Mainstream media reported that the protests are the result of rumours that the borders would open but although spreading this kind of rumours is irresponsible and counter productive, it seems that the ongoing protests for the freedom of movement have not that much to do with the “fake news” about open borders.
               Most migrants are aware of the fact that the member states of the European Union are not going to open the border, and certainly not voluntarily. Many people are fed up that they don’t have the right of freedom of movement and the hostile policies of marginalization and exclusion against refugees.
           In Diavate, near Thessaloniki, refugees were attacked by riot cops with tear gas and batons yesterday. After these acts of police violence, the cops sealed off the area. Refugees wrote me that the cops did not allow food supplies and water into the area where the protesting refugees are. Fortunately some people managed to get some supplies into the area anyway.
          The regional coordinator of the ministry of migration announced that all trains from Athens to Thessaloniki will not be operational until further notice. This is a clear attempt to try to prevent refugees from Athens to join the protests. Many refugees stranded at Larissa train station in Athens and now started to protest in the train station.
           Although the Greek authorities do anything they can to prevent people from joining the protest, the makeshift camp outside of the official Diavata refugee camp is still growing. After yesterdays police violence, cops attacked refugees again earlier today when a huge crowd tried to start marching towards the border.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk